Article transport vehicle

An article transport vehicle comprising:

• a travel member capable of traveling along a travel path;
• a support member located below the travel member for supporting an article;
• and
• a connecting member which connects the travel member and the support member to each other;
• wherein the connecting member includes a travel member side connecting portion connected to the travel member, a support member side connecting portion connected to the support member, and an elastic member which is elastically deformable,
• wherein the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion are connected to each other for relative movement along the vertical direction,
• wherein the elastic member is interposed between the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion,
• wherein the travel member side connecting portion includes a first portion in which an insert hole is formed,
• wherein the support member side connecting portion includes a rod-shaped portion inserted in the insert hole along a vertical direction, and a second portion provided to an upper portion of the rod-shaped portion,
• wherein the elastic member is formed to be generally tubular in shape and is arranged to encircle a side of the rod-shaped portion, wherein the elastic member is held between, and compressed vertically by, an upward-facing surface of the first portion and a downward-facing surface of the second portion, and
• wherein at least one of the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion has a tubular portion that surrounds a side of the elastic member.

An article transport vehicle comprising:

• a travel member capable of traveling along a travel path;
• a support member located below the travel member for supporting an article;
• and
• a connecting member which connects the travel member and the support member to each other;
• wherein the connecting member includes a travel member side connecting portion connected to the travel member, a support member side connecting portion connected to the support member, and an elastic member which is elastically deformable,
• wherein the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion are connected to each other for relative movement along the vertical direction,
• wherein the elastic member is interposed between the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion,
• wherein with a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the travel path as seen along the vertical direction being defined to be a lateral direction, the support member supports a power-receiving portion to which electric power is supplied, without contact, from an electricity supply line which is installed along the travel path and whose position is fixed relative to a travel rail installed along the travel path,
• wherein the power-receiving portion includes an upper portion located at a higher position than the electricity supply line and a lower portion located at a lower position than the electricity supply line,
• wherein, with a normal positional relationship being defined to be a positional relationship along the vertical direction between the travel member side connecting portion and the support member side connecting portion when the travel member is at rest and the support member side connecting portion is supported by the travel member side connecting portion through the elastic member, the connecting member includes a first restricting portion for preventing the support member side connecting portion from moving upward relative to the travel member side connecting portion by a distance greater than or equal to a first distance from the normal positional relationship, and a second restricting portion for preventing the support member side connecting portion from moving downward relative to the travel member side connecting portion by a distance greater than or equal to a second distance from the normal positional relationship, and
• wherein a vertical distance between the electricity supply line and the lower portion is less than the first distance, and wherein a vertical distance between the electricity supply line and the upper portion is less than the second distance.