Guided vehicle system

• US 20060229803A1
• Filed: 04/10/2006
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Original Assignee: Murata Machinery Limited (Muratec)
• Inventors: Shimamura, Kazunori
• Application Number:
  US11/400,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20060229803A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0261 using magnetic plots
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0289 with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles vehicle fittings for automatically controlling speed including means for detecting potential obstacles B60K31/0008; avoiding obstacles by action on the steering system B62D; radar, sonar, lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2201/0216 Vehicle for transporting goods in a warehouse, factory or similar

Abstract

A guided vehicle 20 has an RF tag 22 and an RF tag reader 24. The RF 22 tag of a leading guided vehicle is read for collision avoidance based on the read information.

Claims

1. A guided vehicle system including guided vehicles, wherein a guided vehicle having:

an RF tag reader reading at least one of an RF tag provided in a leading guided vehicle and an RF tag provided along a travel route; and

control means for controlling travel of the guided vehicle for avoiding a collision between the guided vehicle and the leading guided vehicle based on information read from the RF tag.

2. The guided vehicle system of claim 1, wherein each of the guided vehicles has an RF tag, and the RF tag reader reads the RF tag provided in the leading guided vehicle.

3. The guided vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the RF tag provided along the travel route is provided in a merging section of the travel route for writing information about whether the guided vehicle can enter the merging section in the RF tag, and the guided vehicle reads the RF tag provided in a merging section of the travel route with the RF tag reader before entering the merging section to determine whether the guided vehicle can enter the merging section.

4. The guided vehicle system of claim 2, wherein each of the guided vehicles has an RF tag writer, the guided vehicle writes position information of the guided vehicle in RF tag of the guided vehicle with the RF tag writer, and the guided vehicle reads the RF tag of the leading guided vehicle with the RF tag reader to avoid the collision with the control means.

5. The guided vehicle system of claim 4, wherein each of the guided vehicles has a map storing a traveling route, the tag writer writes information of a position on the traveling route as the position information, and the control means refers to the map for avoiding the collision.

6. The guided vehicle system of claim 3, wherein each of the guided vehicles has an RF tag writer, and a blocking signal for blocking the merging section against the other guided vehicles is written in the RF tag provided in the merging section with the RF tag writer.

7. The guided vehicle system of claim 6, further including releasing means for releasing the blocking signal in the RF tag provided in the merging section after a pass of the guided vehicle through the merging section.

8. The guided vehicle system of claim 7, wherein each of the guided vehicles has the releasing means.

9. The guided vehicle system of claim 7, wherein each of the guided vehicles has requesting means for requesting the release to the releasing means.