Rack facility and warehouse including the same

Abstract

To provide a rack facility capable of providing cranes guided by an upper rail and a lower rail in a plurality of stages while suppressing an increase in a space which cannot be used for storing a workpiece.SOLUTION: A rack facility 10 includes left and right storage shelves 12, 13 each provided with a plurality of storage spaces 11, and crane guide means 14, 15 provided in a plurality of stages between the left and right storage shelves 12, 13, and cranes 16, 17 travel along the plurality of crane guide means 14, 15, respectively. The upper rail 18 for guiding the upper portion of the crane 16 at the N-th stage from the bottom and the lower rail 21 for guiding the lower portion of the crane 17 at the (N + 1) - th stage from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member 24 for connecting the left and right storage shelves 12 and 13.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a rack system and a warehouse equipped with the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Automated warehouses, which use cranes to load and unload items from rack facilities with multiple storage shelves, often require improved loading and unloading capacity. One method for improving loading and unloading capacity is to install cranes at different heights so that each of the cranes can load and unload items, as described in Patent Document 1.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses an example in which each crane travels with its lower part guided by rails (traveling paths). In this example, no rails are provided to guide the upper part of each crane. Here, the rails must be arranged horizontally so that the crane can run stably. This also applies when a crane is installed on multiple levels, and not only the rails on the first level (the lowest level) but also the rails on the second level and above must be arranged horizontally. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 5-19218 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, Patent Document 1 does not provide any detailed explanation about the rails, and it is unclear how the second and subsequent tiers of rails should be arranged horizontally. Furthermore, when a crane is used whose upper and lower parts are guided by upper and lower rails, respectively, it is required that the upper and lower rails be arranged horizontally.

[0006] In this regard, a conventional method has been to provide rack equipment 100, 101 independently at different heights, fix the upper rack equipment 101 on a stand 102, and arrange the upper rail 103 and lower rail 104 of the rack equipment 101 horizontally, as shown in Figure 6. In this conventional example, the upper rail 103 and lower rail 104 of the rack equipment 101 on the second level can be arranged horizontally by making the same adjustment as the adjustment to arrange the upper rail 105 and lower rail 106 of the rack equipment 100 on the first level horizontally. However, this conventional example has the problem of creating space between the rack equipment 100, 101 that cannot be used to accommodate workpieces.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide rack equipment and a warehouse equipped with the same that can accommodate multiple tiers of cranes guided by upper and lower rails while minimizing the increase in space that cannot be used to store work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A rack system according to a first invention that meets the above-mentioned object has left and right storage shelves, each provided with a plurality of storage spaces, and crane guide means provided in multiple stages between the left and right storage shelves, and a crane runs along each of the multiple crane guide means, and each of the crane guide means has upper and lower rails that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane, and the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the Nth stage from the bottom and the lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane on the N+1th stage from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves, where N is a natural number, and the same applies hereinafter.

[0009] A warehouse according to a second invention that meets the above-mentioned objective is a warehouse that has left and right storage shelves each provided with a plurality of storage spaces, crane guide means provided in multiple stages between the left and right storage shelves, and a plurality of cranes that run along each of the crane guide means, wherein each of the crane guide means has an upper rail and a lower rail that respectively guides the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane, and the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the Nth stage from the bottom and the lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane on the N+1th stage from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] In the rack equipment of the first invention, the crane guide means is equipped with upper and lower rails that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane, and the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane in the Nth tier from the bottom and the lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane in the N+1th tier from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves, so it is possible to provide multiple tiers of cranes guided by upper and lower rails while suppressing an increase in space that cannot be used to store work.

[0011] Since the warehouse according to the second invention is equipped with the rack equipment according to the first invention, the warehouse according to the second invention can also accommodate multiple tiers of cranes guided by upper and lower rails while minimizing the increase in space that cannot be used to store work. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a side view of a rack equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a view taken along the arrow BB in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a view taken along the arrow AA in FIG. [Figure 4] 1A is an explanatory diagram of a lower rail fixed to the ground surface, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram of an upper rail and a lower rail fixed to a connecting member. [Figure 5]FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional rack facility. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to facilitate understanding of the present invention. 1 and 2, rack equipment 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention has left and right storage shelves 12, 13, each provided with a plurality of storage spaces 11, and crane guide means 14, 15 provided in multiple stages between left and right storage shelves 12, 13, with cranes 16, 17 traveling along the multiple crane guide means 14, 15, respectively. This will be described in detail below.

[0014] 1 and 2, the storage shelf 12 is provided with a plurality of rows of storage spaces 11 arranged in the vertical direction, each row being a horizontal row of storage spaces 11 each capable of storing a workpiece W. The same is true for the storage shelf 13. Storage shelves 12 and 13 are each long in the front-to-rear direction, and are fixed to the ground surface F in a parallel arrangement with a gap between them on the left and right. The parts of storage shelves 12 and 13 that are fixed to the ground surface F are adjusted for horizontal balance using liners or the like. This horizontal balance adjustment allows storage shelves 12 and 13 to be arranged vertically.

[0015] There is no particular limitation on the type of workpiece W accommodated in the accommodation space 11, and for example, the workpiece W may be the article itself or a container in which an article is placed. A plurality of (two in this embodiment) crane guide means 14, 15 are provided at different height positions between storage shelves 12, 13. In this embodiment, crane guide means 14 corresponding to crane 16 is disposed directly below crane guide means 15 corresponding to crane 17.

[0016] Crane guide means 14 is equipped with upper rails 18 and lower rails 19 that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of crane 16, and crane guide means 15 is equipped with upper rails 20 and lower rails 21 that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of crane 17. Upper rails 18 and lower rails 19, and upper rails 20 and lower rails 21 are each linear and extend along the front-to-rear direction. Cranes 16, 17 may be unmanned or manned (operated by a person).

[0017] As shown in Figures 2 and 4(A), the lower rail 19 is fixed to a rail base 23, which is a plate-like rail that is long in the left-right direction and fixed to the ground surface F. There are multiple rail bases 23, which are arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction. Here, each rail base 23 is arranged substantially horizontally by adjusting the horizontal balance using liners or the like, and the lower rail 19 is arranged substantially horizontally. In addition, the storage shelf 12 is adjusted horizontally using a jack base, so the lower rail 21 is also arranged substantially horizontally.

[0018] As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4(B), and 5, a plurality of connecting members 24 that connect the storage shelves 12 and 13 are fixed to the storage shelves 12 and 13, respectively. Each connecting member 24 is rod-shaped and extends in the left-right direction. Each connecting member 24 is arranged substantially horizontally, with the left end fixed to approximately the center in the height direction of the storage shelf 12 and the right end fixed to approximately the center in the height direction of the storage shelf 13. The multiple connecting members 24 are arranged at equal pitches in the front-to-rear direction.

[0019] In this embodiment, an H-shaped steel, which is an example of structural steel, is used for the connecting member 24, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other structural steel may be used for the connecting member 24, or a member other than structural steel may be used. Furthermore, the connecting member 24 does not have to be rod-shaped. In this embodiment, as with other general rack equipment, general components (i.e., non-specialized components) such as pillars, lattice materials, and beams are used for each component that makes up the storage shelves 12 and 13.

[0020] Upper rails 18 are fixed to the lower sides of the multiple connecting members 24, and lower rails 21 are fixed to the upper sides. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4(B), a plate-shaped rail base 25 is attached to the lower part of each connecting member 24 in contact therewith, and the upper rails 18 are fixed to the lower part of the connecting members 24 via the rail bases 25. As shown in Figs. 4(B) and 5, a plate-shaped rail base 26 is attached to the upper part of each connecting member 24 in contact therewith, and the lower rails 21 are fixed to the upper part of the connecting members 24 via the rail bases 26.

[0021] That is, an upper rail 18 that guides the upper part of the first crane 16 from the bottom and a lower rail 21 that guides the lower part of the second crane 17 from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member 24. Therefore, in this embodiment, the distance (especially the vertical distance) between the upper rail 18 and the lower rail 21 can be made smaller than when the lower rail 21 is fixed to a member different from the member to which the upper rail 18 is fixed, and the space that cannot be used to store the work W can be reduced.

[0022] Furthermore, the components that make up the storage shelves 12, 13, the connecting members 24, and the rail bases 25, 26 are industrially manufactured components, and individual variations are small. In addition, the storage shelf 12 has been adjusted for horizontal balance, so each connecting member 24 is kept horizontal. Therefore, horizontal balance adjustment using liners or the like, which is required for each rail base 23, is not required for each rail base 25 and each rail base 26, in principle. In this regard, because the ground surface F is not generally manufactured industrially, there are height differences in different locations and each location may not be horizontal.

[0023] 2, a plurality of upper end connecting members 27 that connect the storage shelves 12 and 13 are fixed to the storage shelves 12 and 13. Each upper end connecting member 27 is rod-shaped and extends in the left-right direction, with its left end fixed to the upper end of the storage shelf 12 and its right end fixed to the upper end of the storage shelf 13, and is arranged substantially horizontally. The multiple upper end connecting members 27 are arranged at intervals in the front-rear direction.

[0024] In this embodiment, a lip channel steel is used for the upper end connecting member 27, but this is not limited to this, and a structural steel may be used for the upper end connecting member 27, or a member that is not a structural steel and has an appearance other than a rectangular column shape may be used. The upper rail 20 is fixed to the underside of each upper end connecting member 27 via a plate-shaped rail base 28. Since the upper end connecting members 27 and the rail bases 28 are also industrially produced, in principle, there is no need to perform horizontal balance adjustment for each rail base 28.

[0025] Therefore, in this embodiment, although the cranes 16 and 17 are provided in layers, the amount of work required for adjusting the horizontal level can be reduced to the same amount of work required when only one crane is provided. Furthermore, the connecting members 24 that connect the storage shelves 12 and 13 not only function as members that support the upper rail 18 and the lower rail 21, but also function to stably maintain the upright state of the storage shelves 12 and 13. The same is true for the upper end connecting members 27 that connect the storage shelves 12 and 13. In this embodiment, the only members that connect the storage shelves 12 and 13 are the multiple connecting members 24 and 27.

[0026] The storage shelf 12 is open on the right side of each storage space 11, and the storage shelf 13 is open on the left side of each storage space 11. The storage shelf 12 is opened from the right side to load and unload the work W into and from the storage space 11 by cranes 16 and 17, and the storage shelf 13 is opened from the left side to load and unload the work W into and from the storage space 11 by cranes 16 and 17.

[0027] The rack equipment 10 described so far has two stages of crane guide means 14, 15, but is not limited to this and may have three or more stages of crane guide means. The rack equipment according to the present invention can be generalized as follows, where N is a natural number (which of course includes integers of 2 or more). In other words, the rack equipment of the present invention has multiple tiers of crane guide means, and an upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the Nth tier from the bottom and a lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane on the N+1th tier from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves.

[0028] 2, warehouse 50 has left and right storage shelves 12, 13, crane guide means 14, 15 provided in multiple stages between left and right storage shelves 12, 13, and multiple cranes 16, 17 that travel along the multiple crane guide means 14, 15, respectively. Crane guide means 14 is equipped with upper rail 18 and lower rail 19 that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane 16, and crane guide means 15 is equipped with upper rail 20 and lower rail 21 that respectively guide the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane 17. Upper rail 18 that guides the upper part of crane 16 on the Nth stage from the bottom, and lower rail 21 that guides the lower part of crane 17 on the (N+1)th stage from the bottom, are fixed to a common connecting member 24.

[0029] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all changes in conditions that do not depart from the gist of the present invention are within the scope of application of the present invention. For example, the left and right storage shelves can be connected by other members in addition to the connecting member and the upper end connecting member. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 10: rack equipment, 11: storage space, 12, 13: storage shelf, 14, 15: crane guide means, 16, 17: crane, 18: upper rail, 19: lower rail, 20: upper rail, 21: lower rail, 23: rail base, 24: connecting member, 25, 26: rail base, 27: upper end connecting member, 28: rail base, 50: warehouse, F: ground surface, W: work

Claims

1. A rack facility having left and right storage shelves, each having a plurality of storage spaces, and crane guide means provided in a plurality of stages between the left and right storage shelves, wherein a crane travels along each of the plurality of crane guide means, Each of the crane guide means includes upper and lower rails for guiding the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane, A rack facility characterized in that the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the Nth tier from the bottom and the lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane on the N+1th tier from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves. Here, N is a natural number.

2. 2. The rack system according to claim 1, wherein the connecting members are rod-shaped and arranged horizontally.

3. 3. The rack system according to claim 2, wherein the connecting members are structural steel.

4. 2. The rack equipment according to claim 1, wherein the only members connecting the left and right storage shelves are the connecting member and an upper end connecting member that connects the upper ends of the left and right storage shelves, and the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the uppermost shelf is fixed to the upper end connecting member.

5. A warehouse having left and right storage shelves each having a plurality of storage spaces, crane guide means provided in a plurality of stages between the left and right storage shelves, and a plurality of cranes that travel along the plurality of crane guide means, Each of the crane guide means includes upper and lower rails for guiding the upper and lower parts of the corresponding crane, A warehouse characterized in that the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the Nth level from the bottom and the lower rail that guides the lower part of the crane on the N+1th level from the bottom are fixed to a common connecting member that connects the left and right storage shelves. Here, N is a natural number.

6. 6. The warehouse according to claim 5, wherein the connecting members are rod-shaped and arranged horizontally.

7. The warehouse according to claim 6, characterized in that the connecting members are structural steel.

8. A warehouse as described in claim 5, characterized in that the only members connecting the left and right storage shelves are the connecting member and an upper end connecting member that connects the upper ends of each of the left and right storage shelves, and the upper rail that guides the upper part of the crane on the uppermost shelf is fixed to the upper end connecting member.

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