Rail-guided carrier system

A rail-guided vehicle system comprising:

• a plurality of carriers each being movable along a track and including an obstacle detector to detect a carrier located forward in a traveling direction;
• a detectable portion in front of each carrier positioned at a predetermined position and detectable by the obstacle detector;
• and
• a controller to determine a state of the obstacle detector based on a detection result of the detectable portion by the obstacle detector;
• wherein
• the detectable portion is movable into a travel space of the carrier at a time of inspection to check operation of the obstacle detector and to retreat from the travel space of the carrier at a time of passage when the carrier passes through an advance position of the detectable portion;
• in the track, an internal space and a notch are provided, the internal space being separated from an external space and located along an extending direction of the track, the notch allowing the detectable portion to move between the internal space and the external space;
• the carrier includes a traveling unit to travel in the internal space;
• the obstacle detector is attached to the traveling unit;
• and
• the detectable portion is movable between the internal space and the external space and to advance into the internal space at the time of inspection and to retreat into the external space at the time of passage, and is provided with a lid to cover an area through which the detectable portion passes in the notch when the detectable portion has advanced into the internal space.