Patent ID: 11905113
Assignee: DAIFUKU CO., LTD.
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 8:
9. An article transport facility comprising:
a travel rail on a ceiling;
a transport vehicle configured to travel along the travel rail and transport an article; and
a holding rack adjacent to the travel rail and configured to hold the article,
the transport vehicle comprising:
a holder configured to suspend and hold the article;
a lift mechanism configured to move the holder in a vertical direction;
a lateral movement mechanism configured to move the holder in a width direction, which is, as viewed in the vertical direction, a direction intersecting a travel direction parallel to the travel rail; and
a rack drive mechanism,

the holding rack comprising:
an upper shelf section suspended from the ceiling; and
a lower shelf section suspended from the upper shelf section,

the upper shelf section comprising an upper placement section which is fixed to the ceiling and on which the article is placeable,
the lower shelf section comprising:
a fixed support fixed to the upper shelf section;
a lower placement section on which the article is placeable, the lower placement section supported by the fixed support in such a manner as to be capable of advancing and retreating in an advance-retreat direction, which is a direction in which the lower placement section moves toward and away from the travel rail as viewed in the vertical direction; and
a drive transmission mechanism drivable by the rack drive mechanism to cause the lower placement section to advance and retreat,

wherein:
the lower placement section is positioned directly below the upper placement section while in a retreated position, in which the lower placement section is away from the travel rail,
the lower placement section is positioned directly below the travel rail while in an advanced position, in which the lower placement section is close to the travel rail,
the drive transmission mechanism comprises a rack-side coupler facing one side corresponding to the travel rail in the advance-retreat direction,
the rack drive mechanism comprises:
a transport vehicle-side coupler facing another side corresponding to the holding rack in the advance-retreat direction; and
a drive source configured to drive the transport vehicle-side coupler to rotate about a rotation axis parallel to the advance-retreat direction,

the rack-side coupler and the transport vehicle-side coupler are configured to be coupled to each other while facing each other in the advance-retreat direction in response to the transport vehicle being stopped at a stop position that is set in correspondence with the holding rack,
the rack-side coupler is configured to be rotated about a rotation axis parallel to the advance-retreat direction by driving force transmitted from the drive source via the transport vehicle-side coupler, and
the drive transmission mechanism further comprises:
a conversion mechanism configured to convert rotation of the rack-side coupler to linear motion in the advance-retreat direction;
an output member configured to be moved linearly by the conversion mechanism; and
a joint joining the output member to the lower placement section.