Stop control system for vehicle body transport vehicle

Abstract

To provide a stop control system for a vehicle body carrying vehicle.SOLUTION: A factory in which a vehicle body transport vehicle 3 transports a railway vehicle body mounted thereon to a predetermined position by automatic traveling along a rail 11,12,23, the factory including an ID tag 31 storing position information and a stop detection target member 32 indicating a stop position, the ID tag 31 and the stop detection target member 32 being installed at a plurality of stop positions, a reader 33 and a stop detector 34 provided in the vehicle body transport vehicle 3, and a control device 24 that performs stop control of the vehicle body transport vehicle 3 based on information read by the reader 33 and a detection signal from the stop detector 34, in this stop control system of the vehicle body carrying vehicle, a control device 24 decelerates traveling of the vehicle body carrying vehicle 3 by reading position information of an ID tag 31 corresponding to a designated stop position by a reader 33, and adjusts the stop position of the vehicle body carrying vehicle 3 based on a detecting situation of a stopping detector by detecting a stopping detecting object member 34 of the stop position by the stopping detector 34.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a stop control system that automatically stops a car body transport vehicle carrying a target railway car body at a predetermined position in a transport system that moves railway car bodies along rails in a factory. [Background technology]

[0002] In railway vehicle factories, railway car bodies that passengers ride on are manufactured separately from the bogies, or disassembled separately for inspection and repair. For example, in an inspection and repair factory, various tasks are performed in multiple buildings (hereinafter referred to as stations), such as a dismantling yard, outfitting yard, repair yard, and painting yard, and railway car bodies must be moved between these stations. In the inspection and repair factory, distribution rails that enter and exit the multiple stations are laid, and temporary bogies that directly load railway car bodies and transfer carriages that load the temporary bogies (hereinafter referred to as traversers) are used as car body transport vehicles that carry and move railway car bodies. The traverser is configured to move on two running rails laid in the same direction as the distribution rails. Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a conventional example of a traverser used in an inspection and repair factory.

[0003] The traverser must accurately stop on the corresponding distribution rail to deliver the loaded railcar to the designated station. Therefore, independent travel motors are provided on the wheels corresponding to each traverser travel rail, which is laid perpendicular to the distribution rail, and the positioning at the stopping position is determined by the drive control of these motors. First, the station number of the traverser is entered using a pendant, and automatic travel begins when the confirmation button and start button are pressed. Near the stopping position, the deceleration zone is confirmed based on pulse signals from the encoder, and the travel motor's rotation speed is reduced to allow for slow travel. After that, the traverser is stopped by detection from a laser sensor. Furthermore, at the stopping position, the sensor detects a magnetic induction, and the encoder count is corrected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-130974 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the above-mentioned conventional example, after starting the movement of the traverser according to the pendant operation, the traverser can be stopped at a predetermined position by deceleration control based on pulse detection by an encoder mounted on the running motor and stop control based on the detection of a reflector by a laser sensor. However, the traverser stop control that detects the target reflector using a laser sensor has the problem of being easily affected by the environment. That is, because the transportation of railway car bodies is carried out outdoors or in stations where various operations are performed, the reflectors are easily soiled and may not function properly depending on their condition. In such cases, the operator must use the pendant to operate the traverser from start to stop, but the stopping operation requires precision of several millimeters, which requires experience.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a stop control system for a vehicle transport vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The stop control system for a car body transport vehicle of the present invention is a stop control system for a car body transport vehicle installed in a railway vehicle factory, which has a car body transport vehicle that transports a loaded railway car body to a predetermined position by automatically traveling along rails, and includes ID tags that store position information and stop detectable members that indicate the stop positions, which are installed at multiple stop positions where the car body transport vehicle needs to be positioned within the railway vehicle factory, a reader that reads the position information of the ID tag and a stop detector that detects the stop detectable members, which are installed on the car body transport vehicle, and a control device that controls the stop of the car body transport vehicle based on the information read by the reader and the detection signal of the stop detector, and the control device decelerates the movement of the car body transport vehicle by having the reader read the position information of the ID tag corresponding to the specified stop position, and adjusts the stop position of the car body transport vehicle based on the detection status of the stop detector by having the stop detector detect the stop detectable member at the stop position. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the above configuration, the car body transport vehicle automatically travels along rails within the railway vehicle factory, transporting the railway car body loaded on it to a predetermined position. At each of the multiple stopping positions, an ID tag storing position information and a stop detectable member indicating the stopping position are installed, and the car body transport vehicle slows down while automatically traveling by using its control device, with the reader reading the position information from the ID tag. The stop detectable member is detected by the stop detector, and the stopping position of the car body transport vehicle is adjusted based on the detection status, making it possible to position it at an accurate stopping position. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] This diagram shows the distribution location in the center of the inspection and repair workshop where the two traversers move. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a simplified side view of a railway car body mounted on a temporary bogie. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration for stopping the traverser on the distribution rail. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between an ID tag and a reader. [Figure 5] This is an image of three magnetic sensors detecting the magnetic field of the stopping magnet. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the attachment jig for the stop detector from the direction of travel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment of a stop control system for a car body transport vehicle according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment relates to a stop control system for appropriately transporting a railway car body in a railway car factory where the railway car body is transported. In particular, this railway car factory is an inspection and repair factory where repairs are performed on railway car bodies transported to a predetermined position within each station, and a stop control system using temporary bogies and traversers as car body transport vehicles will be described. First, FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the sorting location in the center of the inspection and repair factory where two traversers move.

[0011] Two traverser running rails 11 are laid in the center of the inspection and repair factory 1, and a distribution area 10 is provided along which two traversers 3 move. The inspection and repair factory 1 has a plurality of stations on either side of the distribution area 10, and pairs of distribution rails 12 extending to each station are laid perpendicular to the traverser running rails 11. As shown in the figure, 20 sets of distribution rails 12 (AT) are provided for entering and exiting each station. Distribution rails 12A-12P are arranged on one side of the central distribution area 10, and distribution rails 12Q-12T are arranged on the opposite side. An entrance / exit rail 13 is also provided, connecting to the main track, for railway vehicles to enter and exit the inspection and repair factory 1. In this embodiment, when specifying the distribution rails 12 for transporting railway car bodies, the suffix AT will be added to the end of the reference numeral 12.

[0012] The traverser 3 is provided with traveling devices 22 that enable travel along the traverser traveling rails 11 on a rectangular car body 21 on which the railway car body 5 can be mounted. The two traverser traveling rails 11 are located at both ends of the traverser 3 in the longitudinal direction, and two traveling devices 22 are attached to the car body 21 to correspond to them. The two traveling devices 22 have the same configuration, with two traveling wheels 221 journaled and positioned back and forth along the traverser traveling rails 11, and one of the traveling wheels is connected to a traveling motor 222 via a gear. The two traveling devices 22 located at both ends in the longitudinal direction are connected to a control device 24, allowing for independent travel control of each other.

[0013] Furthermore, the traverser 3 has two parallel loading rails 23 provided in the longitudinal direction on the top surface of the car body 21 for loading and unloading the railway car body 5. The railway car body 5 is mounted on a temporary bogie, which will be described later, and can move along the rails by driving the temporary bogie. The railway car body 5 is loaded onto the traverser 3 by connecting the loading rails 23 to the distribution rails 12. Furthermore, the traverser 3 has support frames at both ends in the longitudinal direction that can be raised and lowered, and is configured so that the loading rails 23 are continuous with the distribution rails 12 for each station when passengers board or disembark.

[0014] The railway vehicle enters the inspection and repair workshop 1 from the main line via the entrance and exit rails 13, and is disassembled into the railway car body 5 and the railway bogie (not shown) that supports it so that it can run. The railway car body 5 is then transferred from the railway bogie to a temporary bogie 6 so that it can be moved to the distribution rails 12, the mounting rails 23 for the traverser 3, and further to a work location within each station. Figure 2 is a side view simply showing the railway car body mounted on the temporary bogie 6.

[0015] The temporary bogie 6 has a pair of wheels 26 fixed to the front and rear axles, which are rotatably supported by the car body frame 25. The railway car body 5 is supported by the temporary bogies 6 at two locations, the front and the rear. One of the two temporary bogies 6 is a self-propelled driving car equipped with a running motor 27, and the other is a driven car without a running motor. In the driving car, a control device 28 that drives and controls the running motor 27 is mounted on the car body frame 25, allowing travel control within the inspection and repair factory 1. In addition, the temporary bogie 6 has a lifting device 29 mounted in the center of the car body frame, allowing the railway car body 5 to be raised and lowered to any height.

[0016] The railway car body 5 is transported to each station via a temporary bogie 6, which automatically travels on the distribution rail 12. However, when the railway car 5 is transferred to a different distribution rail 12, the temporary bogie 6 is also loaded onto the traverser 3 for transport. An automatic transport system is installed in the inspection and repair factory 1, but the transportation of the railway car body 5 requires accurate stop control for the movement by the temporary bogie 6 and the movement by the traverser 3. This is because, in addition to positioning the railway car body 5 at a stopping position within the station, it is necessary to connect the loading rail 23 of the traverser 3 and the distribution rail 12 to prevent the wheels from derailing. Therefore, this embodiment is provided with a stop control system for stopping the traverser 3 and the temporary bogie 6 at an accurate position.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration for stopping the traverser 3 relative to the distribution rail 12. Within the inspection and repair factory 1, as shown in the figure, not only the traverser 3 but also all positions where the temporary bogie 6 carrying the railway car body 5 stops are provided with a set of stop control components consisting of an ID tag 31 and a magnetic sensor-compatible stop magnet 32. The traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6 can move in opposite directions. Here, movement in the direction of arrow X will be explained, and the components corresponding to the same direction shown in FIG. 3 will be distinguished by adding the symbol X to the end, and the components corresponding to movement in the opposite direction will be distinguished by adding the symbol Y to the end.

[0018] The ID tags 31 and stopping magnets 32 are provided at multiple locations within the inspection and repair factory 1, particularly at locations where it is necessary to position the railway car body 5 being transported. The ID tags 31 provided at each of these locations store position information indicating the corresponding location within the inspection and repair factory 1. For example, in the sorting area 10 shown in Figures 1 and 3, the stopping position of the traverser 3 is a position corresponding to the sorting rails 12A-12T, and the position information of the ID tags 31 includes track number information that identifies the sorting rails 12A-12T.

[0019] On the other hand, the stopping position of the temporary carriage 6 is a work area provided within the station or a loading position on the traverser 3. For example, within the station, a work area is provided around the stopping position of an indoor rail extended from the distribution rail 12. The position information of the ID tag 31 provided at such a stopping position includes the work content at the specified station, related facility information, etc.

[0020] A set of ID tag 31 and stopping magnet 32 ​​is provided at each stopping position, with the ID tag 31 located on the front side and the stopping magnet 32 ​​located on the rear side when viewed in the direction of travel of the traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6. The distance between the ID tag 31 and the stopping magnet 32 ​​is set as a deceleration control section until the traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6 are stopped. The ID tag 31 triggers the deceleration of the traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6 so that they can be stopped by the stopping magnet 32. The traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6 normally travel at a speed of about 30 m / min, and when the corresponding ID tag 31 is read, their travel speed is decelerated, and they stop at a speed of about 5 m / min just before detecting the stopping magnet 32.

[0021] The stop magnets 32 provided at each stop position together with the ID tags 31 are stop detectable members for positioning the traverser 3 and the temporary carriage 6 at the stop position according to detection by a magnetic sensor described later. For example, when positioning the loading rail 23 to be continuous with the distribution rail 12, it is necessary to keep the lateral deviation between the rails within 5 mm, taking derailment into consideration. The stop control system of this embodiment is intended to achieve such automatic stop control in units of a few mm.

[0022] The traverser 3 is provided with a reader 33 that reads the position information of the ID tag 31, a stop detector 34 that detects the magnetism of the stop magnet 32, and a control device 24 that controls the drive of the running motor. The temporary bogie 6 is configured in the same way. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the ID tag 31 and the reader 33. The ID tag 31 installed on the floor of a factory or the like has a control circuit 311, a memory 312, and an antenna 313, and the memory 312 at each installation position stores position information including information on the track number and work equipment. The reader 33 installed on the traverser 3 is provided with a control circuit 331 and an antenna 332.

[0023] The ID tag 31 is a so-called passive RFID tag, and a signal (radio wave or electromagnetic wave) transmitted from an antenna 332 is received by an antenna 313 on the ID tag 31 side when a control circuit 331 of the reader 33 is driven. At this time, the signal is converted into a direct current by a rectifier circuit of the antenna 313, generating power to drive the control circuit 311, and the position information stored in the memory 312 is read by the reader 33 via the antennas 313 and 332.

[0024] Next, the stop detector 34 detects the magnetism generated by the stop magnet 32, and is composed of multiple magnetic sensors that detect one stop magnet 32 ​​provided at the stop position. Figure 5 is an image diagram showing three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343 detecting the magnetism of the stop magnet 32. In this embodiment, the stop detector 34 is composed of the three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343. This stop detector 34 is used to adjust the position of the traverser 3 so that it can stop at an accurate position.

[0025] The three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343 are aligned in the direction of travel of the traverser 3, and are positioned so that all three can detect the stopping magnet 32 ​​at the correct stopping position. As shown in Fig. 5(b), when the three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343 enter the magnetic field of the stopping magnet 32, the control device 24, which has received a detection signal from the magnetic sensor 34, confirms that all of the sensors are ON, ON, ON, and determines that the detection status coincides with the stopping position Z of the traverser 3 and the temporary bogie 6 (including the allowable error).

[0026] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 5(a), when the traverser 3 moves in the direction of the arrow X, if the detection status of the magnetic sensors 341, 342, 343 is ON, ON, OFF, the control device 24 determines that the traverser has stopped just before the stop position Z, and conversely, if the detection status is OFF, ON, ON, it determines that the traverser has stopped beyond the stop position Z. Therefore, if one or more of the three magnetic sensors 341, 342, 343 is OFF, the control device 24 eliminates the deviation amount m, that is, it performs a position adjustment to drive the travel motor 222 in a direction in which all of the magnetic sensors 341, 342, 343 are ON.

[0027] The stop detector 34 is not limited to being composed of three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343, but may be composed of two magnetic sensors. In this case, the condition for the stop position is the state (ON, ON) in which both magnetic sensors detect the stop magnet 32. Therefore, if one magnetic sensor is OFF, position adjustment is performed to drive the travel motor 222 in the direction in which that magnetic sensor is ON. Even if the stop detector 34 is composed of three magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343 as described above, if it is difficult to set all of them within the magnetic field of the stop magnet 32, the determination of the detection state may be changed. In other words, the stop position condition may be (OFF, ON, OFF) only when the central magnetic sensor 332 detects.

[0028] The stop detector 34 must perform detection under the same conditions at all stop positions. That is, the stop detector 34 must perform detection at a constant distance from the stop magnet 32. However, unevenness exists in the area of ​​the sorting area 10 excluding the traveling rail 11. That is, the ID tag 31 and the stop magnet 32 ​​are precisely positioned in the front-to-back and left-to-right directions as viewed from the traverser, but not in the vertical direction. If the stop detector 34 were directly attached to the traverser 3 or the temporary bogie 6 under these installation conditions, the distance from the stop magnet 32 ​​embedded in the floor would change. Therefore, the stop detector 34 is attached to the traverser 3 or the temporary bogie 6 using a mounting jig with casters, as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the mounting jig for the stop detector 34 from the direction of travel.

[0029] The mounting jig 8 has an L-shaped bracket 41 that can be attached to or detached from the frame of the traverser 3 or the temporary carriage 6, and a lifting block 43 with a caster 42 pivotally mounted thereon is attached to its horizontal section 411. Two guide pins 44 are fixed to the lifting block 43, and the guide pins 44 penetrate the horizontal section 411 of the bracket 41 at right angles, allowing it to be displaced vertically. A spring 45 passing through the guide pins 44 is attached between the horizontal section 411 and the lifting block 43, and is configured to apply a downward biasing force that presses the caster 42 against the floor surface. A stop detector 34 is attached to the lifting block 43. Instead of using the mounting jig 8, the installation height of the stop magnets 32 may be uniform, and the installation area of ​​the stop magnets 32 within the sorting area 10 may be raised with a non-magnetic material such as mortar. However, the installation cost of the installation unit is likely to increase because it varies depending on the number of distribution rails 12 and stations in the inspection and repair factory 1. Instead, the mounting jig 8 is attached to the traverser 3 and temporary carriage 6, which are the transport system itself, so the degree of freedom in system design increases and construction costs can be reduced compared to the installation unit.

[0030] In the automatic transport system of the inspection and repair factory 1, for example, an input device (not shown) is connected to the control devices 24, 28 of the traverser 3 and the temporary bogie 6, and when stop position information to which the railway car body 5 is to be transported is input, the information is set in the control device 24 of the traverser 3 and transport is started. For example, when the traverser 3 located at the position of the distribution rail 12C shown in FIG. 1 receives the railway car body 5 from the distribution rail 12F, position information corresponding to the distribution rail 12F is set and input into the control device 24 of the traverser 3 by operating the input device. Then, the traverser 3 that has started traveling moves along the traverser traveling rail 11 by the drive of the traveling device 22, and passes over the distribution rails 12D and 12E along the way.

[0031] While traveling within the range of the distribution rails 12D, 12E, the reader 33 reads each ID tag 31, which is compared with the position information set in the control device 24. If it is determined that the position differs from the stop position, a passing judgment is made. Then, as shown in Figure 3, the traverser 3 enters the range of the distribution rail 12F, and the reader 33 reads the ID tag 31, which confirms that it matches the position information set in the control device 24, and a predetermined deceleration control is performed on the traveling motor 222. The traverser 3 slows down and travels toward the stop detector 34, and when the magnetic sensor 341 located at the front detects the stop magnet 32, stop control is applied and the traverser 3 stops.

[0032] After stopping, the control device 24 checks the detection status of the three magnetic sensors 341, 342, 343, and adjusts the position so that all are ON as described above. If even one of the three magnetic sensors 341, 342, 343 is OFF, the driving control of the traveling motor 222 is performed in the direction that turns it ON, and the position of the slow movement is adjusted. As a result, the mounting rail 23 and the distribution rail 12F are within a certain error (5 mm in this embodiment), and the railway car body 5 mounted on the temporary bogie 6 can be loaded and unloaded from the traverser 3.

[0033] The adjustment of the stop position of the traverser 3 is configured in the same way for the distribution rails 12Q-12T on the opposite side in the longitudinal direction, and the stop position is adjusted for that rail. In this embodiment, the stop control system for the traverser 3 has been mainly described, but the temporary bogie 6 is also configured in the same way, and positioning control at the stop position is performed. In addition, the automatic transport system of the inspection and repair factory 1 may have a central management device capable of wireless communication with the control devices 24, 28 of the traverser 3 and the temporary bogie 6, and may be configured to send travel commands to each to centrally manage the entire system.

[0034] Therefore, according to this embodiment, absolute position information can be confirmed at the stopping position by the stop detector 34 consisting of the magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343 detecting the stop magnet 32. In particular, by checking the detection status of the multiple magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343, accurate position adjustment of the traverser 3 and temporary carriage 6, which are body transport vehicles, can be performed. Therefore, the alignment of the rails performed in the case of the traverser 3 can be performed more accurately than in conventional stop control. Furthermore, the configuration using the stop magnet 32 ​​and stop detector 34 can perform accurate stop control without being affected by weather or the factory environment.

[0035] In this embodiment, the stop detector 34 is composed of multiple magnetic sensors such as magnetic sensors 341, 342, and 343, which eliminates the possibility of misdetection of the stop magnet 32 ​​that can occur with a single sensor. Furthermore, reading the ID tag 31 by the reader 33 not only acquires position information in the inspection and repair factory 1, but also serves as a signal to switch the body transport vehicle, such as the traverser 3, to decelerate travel. Therefore, by inputting a setting for the target position for the body transport vehicle, automatic stop control can be performed at an accurate stopping position.

[0036] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The inspection and repair factory 1 in the above embodiment is an example of a railway vehicle factory, and the traverser 3 and temporary bogie 6 that move there are also examples of car body transport vehicles, so other embodiments are not excluded. Furthermore, although the present invention has presented an example in which there are two traversers 3 in the sorting area 10, this is not restrictive. There may be one, or three or more. There may also be space at the end of the sorting area 10 where one of the multiple traversers 3 can retreat. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1...Inspection and repair shop 3...Traverser 5...Railway car body 6...Temporary bogie 11...Traverser running rail 12...Distribution rail 21...Car body 22...Running device 23...Loading rail 24...Control device 31...ID tag 32...Stop magnet 33...Reader 34...Stop detector 341, 342, 343...Magnetic sensor

Claims

1. A stop control system for a car body transport vehicle installed in a railway vehicle factory, the car body transport vehicle having a car body transporting a loaded railway car body to a predetermined position by automatic travel along a rail, an ID tag storing position information and a stop detection member indicating the stop position, the ID tag and the stop detection member being installed at a plurality of stop positions where the car body transport vehicle needs to be positioned in the railway vehicle factory; a reader provided on the vehicle body transport vehicle for reading position information of the ID tag and a stop detector for detecting the stop detection member; and a control device for controlling the vehicle body transport vehicle to stop based on the read information of the reader and a detection signal from the stop detector. and The control device slows down the movement of the vehicle body transport vehicle by having the reader read the position information of the ID tag corresponding to the designated stopping position, and adjusts the stopping position of the vehicle body transport vehicle based on the detection status of the stop detector by having the stop detector detect the stop detectable member at the stopping position.

2. The stop control system for a vehicle body transport vehicle described in claim 1, wherein the control device decelerates the vehicle body transport vehicle by reading the position information of the ID tag based on the distance to the stop detection member that is preset as the stop position.

3. 3. A stop control system for a vehicle body transporting vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the stop detector is a magnetic sensor, and a stop magnet is used as the stop detection member.

4. The stop control system for a vehicle body transport vehicle as described in claim 3, wherein the stop detector has a plurality of magnetic sensors arranged in a row in the direction of travel of the vehicle body transport vehicle, and the control device adjusts the stopping position of the vehicle body transport vehicle so that all of the plurality of magnetic sensors detect the stop magnet simultaneously.

5. A stop control system for a body transport vehicle as described in claim 3, wherein a block to which casters that roll on the floor surface are axially attached is displaceably attached to a bracket that is detachable from the body transport vehicle, and an attachment jig is provided in which the block is urged by a spring member so that the casters come into contact with the floor surface, and the stop detector is attached to the block of the attachment jig fixed to the body transport vehicle.

6. The stop control system for a car body transport vehicle described in claim 4, wherein the car body transport vehicle is a temporary bogie that can carry a railway car body and travel automatically, and a traverser that can carry a railway car body that is moved by the temporary bogie and travel automatically.

Images