Article transport facility

An article transport facility, comprising:

• a pair of travel rails along a travel path;
• a transport vehicle configured to travel along the travel path to transport an article;
• a guide rail located in at least one of a section on the travel path including an intersection or a section on the travel path including a curve to guide the transport vehicle;
• and
• a control system configured to control the transport vehicle,
• wherein the transport vehicle comprises:
• travel wheels configured to roll on upper surfaces of the pair of travel rails,
• a guide wheel configured to roll on a first side surface of the guide rail facing in a first width direction or on a second side surface of the guide rail facing in a second width direction, the first width direction and the second width direction opposite to the first width direction are included in a width direction perpendicular to a travel direction along the travel path when viewed from above or below, and
• a guide wheel driver configured to move the guide wheel in the width direction to a first position for the guide wheel to roll on the first side surface and to a second position for the guide wheel to roll on the second side surface,
• wherein:
• the travel path includes a plurality of guide sections each including the guide rail and an unguided section including no guide rail,
• the plurality of guide sections include a first guide section and a second guide section, and the second guide section is located downstream from the first guide section in the travel direction across the unguided section,
• the control system performs pre-urging for the transport vehicle sequentially traveling through the first guide section, the unguided section, and the second guide section when the guide wheel is at the first position in the first guide section and at the second position in the second guide section,
• the pre-urging is performed to control the guide wheel driver to urge the guide wheel from the first position toward the second position when the guide wheel in the first width direction in the first guide section is in contact with the first side surface of the guide rail before entering the unguided section, and
• the control system continuously performing the pre-urging allows the guide wheel to pass through the unguided section to move the guide wheel from the first position to the second position in the unguided section, and places the guide wheel in the second width direction in the second guide section into contact with the second side surface of the guide rail.