JP2001266235A - Article conveying device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article conveying device and its control method which enable the pitch variation of an endless chain to easily and accurately be grasped. SOLUTION: At one-end of endless chains 1 and 2 fitted with article conveyance members, adjustment parts 20 are provided which adjust the extension/ contraction of the chains 1 and 2, and the adjustment parts 20 are clamped and fixed to long-hole parts 1a and 2a of the chains 1 and 2 with bolts and nuts 4 and 5. When the chains 1 and 2 are extended or contracted, the nuts 4 and 5 are clamped to retense the chains 1 and 2, and the extension/contraction of the chains 1 and 2 are confirmed on scales 1b and 2b on chain end flanks that the indicator parts 2c and 2c indicate the extension/contraction value and the value is inputted to a console panel to calculate correction values for the pitches of the chains 1 and 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product transport apparatus for rotating an endless chain by a driving source and moving the product by a product transport member attached to the chain, and a control method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a product conveying apparatus for moving a product stored in a plurality of product shelves in a vending machine up and down to convey the product to a product take-out port is an endless elevator. It has a structure attached to a chain. Such a product transport device is driven by rotating a chain hung on upper and lower sprockets with a motor, but since it is necessary to accurately stop the elevators at the height of each product shelf and the product outlet, The control of the stop position is important.

As an example of such a stop position control method,
Some control the number of rotations of a motor based on the number of pulses generated by an encoder. In this control method, first, the movement distance of the chain per one pulse is obtained by an equation of (number of teeth of the sprocket x pitch of the chain) / number of pulses of the encoder per one rotation of the sprocket. Then, by dividing each distance from the standby position of the elevator to the position of each product shelf and the position of the product take-out port by the moving distance of the chain per pulse, the elevator moves from the standby position to the position of each product shelf and the product. The number of pulses required to move to the position of the outlet is preset in the memory.

When the purchaser selects a desired product, the control device confirms that the elevator is at the standby position, and thereafter, the number of pulses from the product shelf containing the selected product to the standby position is stored in the memory. The motor is rotationally driven to move the elevator until the number of pulses read out from the encoder matches, and the motor is stopped and the elevator stops when the two coincide. As a result, the elevator stops at the position of the product shelf containing the selected product.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned chain-type commodity conveying apparatus, the chain wears and grows over time due to the weight of the elevator and the weight of the commodity. If the chain is left in the stretched state, for example, it may not be possible to rotate smoothly, so the nut that holds the end point of the chain is shifted and retightened. It is necessary to carry out re-stretching work.

When the chain is elongated, the pitch of the chain changes, so that the running distance of the chain per unit angle rotation of the motor becomes longer, and the running distance of the chain per pulse generated by the encoder becomes longer. become longer. As a result, when the control device performs the stop position control of the elevator by comparing the number of pulses read from the memory with the number of pulses generated by the encoder, the elevator actually stops at a position that has passed the target shelf excessively. become.

Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation, it is necessary to correct the moving distance of the chain per one pulse generated by the encoder 14 after the work of re-stretching the chain. However, since it is difficult to accurately grasp the changed chain pitch, as described above,
The moving distance per pulse calculated based on the chain pitch cannot be corrected accurately.

As a method of correcting the stop position of the elevator with respect to the elongation of the chain, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
There is a technique disclosed in US Pat. However, this prior art is different from the above-described prior art in the method of controlling the stop position of the elevator. That is, this prior art maximizes the number of pulses emitted while the elevator descends from the standby position on the uppermost layer to the product exit position on the lowermost layer, and sets the pulse corresponding to each of the product shelves evenly arranged during this time. The number of movements of the elevator is controlled by setting the number in a memory of the control device in advance.

Then, in order to cope with the situation where the chain extends over time, the elevator is lowered from the uppermost position to the lowermost position at predetermined intervals, and the number of pulses generated by the encoder during that period is detected. The numerical value divides the numerical value stored in the memory as the original number of pulses from the uppermost position to the lowermost position. The value thus divided is multiplied by the numerical value stored in the memory as the number of pulses to each product shelf and the lowest position, and the obtained value is updated as the newly corrected number of pulses in the memory. .

[0010] As described above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
The conventional technique of No. calculates the moving distance of the chain per pulse based on the chain pitch, and the control method is different from the technique of performing control based on the calculated distance. However, it is impossible to solve the problem that the stop position of the elevator is corrected by accurately grasping the stop position.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a product conveying device capable of easily and accurately grasping a change in the pitch of an endless chain. Another object of the present invention is to provide a control method of a product conveying device capable of easily and accurately grasping a change in the pitch of an endless chain and accurately controlling a stop position of a conveyed product. It is in.

[0012]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an endless chain to which a goods conveying member is attached, a motor for rotating the chain, and the chain. And an adjusting unit for adjusting the length of the chain, wherein the adjusting unit is provided with a scale that allows the extension length of the chain to be visually recognized. According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the chain is worn over time, the length of the chain is adjusted by the adjusting unit to re-stretch the chain. At that time,
Since the length of expansion and contraction of the chain can be grasped by visually recognizing the scale, the changed chain pitch can be easily and accurately calculated based on the value of the scale.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the commodity transport apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein an encoder for generating a pulse for controlling the motor and one pulse generated by the encoder based on a pitch of the chain are provided. A unit moving distance calculating means for calculating a moving distance of the chain, and a pulse number calculating means for calculating the number of pulses required for the chain to move a desired distance based on the moving distance of the chain per one pulse. Input means for inputting the value of the scale, and pitch correction value calculating means for calculating a correction value of the pitch of the chain based on the value of the scale input by the input means. I do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method according to the second aspect of the present invention, which is based on a pitch of an endless chain to which a goods conveying member is attached and which is rotated by a motor. The moving distance of the chain per pulse generated by the encoder is calculated, and the number of pulses required for the chain to move a desired distance is calculated based on the moving distance of the chain per pulse. In the method for controlling a product conveying device that controls the motor based on the number of pulses, a correction value of the pitch of the chain is calculated based on a value of a scale at which the expansion and contraction length of the chain can be visually recognized. .

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, when the chain is re-stretched, the chain pitch is automatically corrected based on the stretch length of the chain grasped by visually recognizing the scale. Since the movement distance of the chain per pulse and the number of pulses required for the chain to move a desired distance are calculated, the stop position of the product transport member can be accurately controlled.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Configuration of Embodiments An embodiment of a product transport apparatus and a control method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, endless chains 1 and 2 are rotatably provided inside the vending machine, and an elevator 3 as a product transport member is attached to the chains 1 and 2. Chains 1, 2
As shown in FIG. 2 (B), each end portion is
By being fastened, the endless shape is formed. The adjusting unit 20 inserts a bolt (not shown) having the other end thereof penetrated into the long holes 1a and 2a formed at one end of the chains 1 and 2, and inserts this bolt into the nuts 4 and 5. It is configured by fastening.
The adjusting section 20 is configured so that the fastening length can be adjusted by loosening the nuts 4 and 5 to shift the positions along the long holes 1a and 2a, and retightening the nuts.

As shown in FIG. 2A, graduations 1b and 2b are provided on the side surfaces of the ends where the long holes 1a and 2a are provided.
Are formed. The scales 1b and 2b are, for example,
0 to 3 at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of chains 1 and 2
Is formed up to. The interval is, for example, 2 mm. And at the other end of the chains 1 and 2,
Pointers 1c and 2c having projections for indicating the scales 1b and 2b are provided.

The chains 1 and 2 are hung on sprockets 6 and 7 and sprockets 8 and 9 disposed above and below, respectively, at predetermined intervals so as to be parallel to each other. Shafts of the upper sprockets 6 and 8 are connected by a horizontal shaft 10. The shaft 10 and the sprockets 6 and 8 are configured to be rotationally driven by a motor 13 via a pulley 11 and a belt 12. The motor 13 is, for example, a DC geared motor with an electromagnetic brake. Further, a rotary encoder 14 is provided at an end of the shaft 10.

In the vicinity of the chain 2, there are provided limit switches 15 and 16 for detecting that the elevator 3 has reached the upper and lower limits of vertical movement. An optical origin sensor 17 is provided at a standby position of the elevator 3 near the lower limit switch 16.

The motor 13 is controlled by a control device (microcomputer) 1 according to the number of pulses generated by the encoder 14.
00. Also, limit switch 1
The position of the elevator 3 is detected by the reference numerals 5 and 16 and the origin sensor 17, and the control device 100 controls the motor 13 based on the detected position.

The configuration of the control device will be described below.
That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the control device 100 includes a unit movement distance calculation unit 110 that calculates the movement distance of the chains 1 and 2 per pulse generated by the encoder 14 based on the pitch of the chains 1 and 2. , The distance from the standby position to the position of each product shelf and the position of the product exit,
By dividing by the moving distance of the chains 1 and 2 per pulse, the number of pulses required to calculate the number of pulses required for the elevator 3 to move from the standby position to the position of each product shelf and the position of the product outlet is calculated. Part 120 and scales 1b, 2b indicated by hands 1c, 2c of chains 1, 2
And a pitch correction value calculation unit 130 that calculates a correction value of the pitch of the chains 1 and 2 based on the value of.

The control device 100 has a memory 140 for storing the number of pulses calculated by the number-of-pulses calculation section 120 and an encoder 14 for storing the number of pulses after the motor 13 is operated.
A pulse counter 150 for counting the pulses emitted by
Count number of pulse counter, limit switch 15,
A stop control unit 160 for stopping the motor 13 is set based on signals from the sensor 16 and the origin sensor 17 and the like. Further, the control device 100 includes an operation panel (not shown).
Are connected, and the operation panel is used as input means,
The values of the scales 1b and 2b indicated by c and 2c are configured to be input to the control device 100.

The calculation of the moving distance per pulse generated by the encoder 14 by the unit moving distance calculating section 110 is performed, for example, as shown in FIG.
m, the number of sprocket teeth is 10, and the number of sprocket teeth is 1.
Assuming that the number of pulses of the encoder 14 for the rotation is 100, the following equation is obtained from the above equation.

## EQU1 ## (10.times.10) / 100 = 1 (mm) Accordingly, in this example, the moving distance per pulse is 1 mm.

The elevator 3 is mounted horizontally at a position extending over the chains 1 and 2. A product take-out mechanism 18 for taking out products from a product shelf (not shown) is provided on the elevator 3. The product take-out mechanism 18 is provided so as to be horizontally movable along a horizontal axis (not shown) mounted on the elevator 3 using a motor 19 controlled by the control device 100 as a drive source. The configurations of the product take-out mechanism 18 and the product shelves, the configuration for controlling the motor 19 in the control device 100, and the like can be realized by well-known techniques, and thus description thereof is omitted.

In the vending machine to which the present embodiment is applied, when a purchaser inserts coins and presses a purchase button for a desired product, the motors 13 and 19 operate, and the purchaser desires. The product take-out mechanism 18 moves to the product shelf in which the product is stored, and takes out the product. And the product take-out mechanism 18
Is moved to the product outlet of the vending machine so that the purchaser can obtain the product from the product outlet. In addition, according to the product removal by the product removal mechanism 18,
The coins inserted by the purchaser are collected in the collection box.

A series of these operations are performed by the controller 10 based on signals from switches and sensors for detecting and inserting coins, detecting button presses, detecting charge collection, and the like.
0 is performed by controlling each drive unit such as the motors 13 and 19. It should be noted that the setting of each component and the control device 100 for realizing such a function can be realized by a well-known technique, and a description thereof will be omitted.

2. Operation of Embodiment The operation of the present embodiment as described above is divided into normal operation and correction work, and will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. 2-1. Normal operation: FIG. 6 First, the elevator 3 in the standby state is at a position corresponding to the origin sensor 17. When the purchaser inserts a coin and presses a purchase button (step 601), the motor 13 operates to rotate the shaft 10 (step 602).
2 starts rotating.

In the control device 100, the pulse number corresponding to the product shelf in which the product selected by the product purchaser is stored is read from the memory 140 (step 603), and the pulse counter 150 is controlled by the encoder until the pulse number matches the pulse number. Count the number of pulses emitted by 14 (step 6)
04). Then, when they match (step 60).
5), the motor 13 is stopped by the stop control unit 160 to stop the elevator 3 (step 606). As a result, the elevator 3 stops at the height of the product shelf containing the product selected by the product purchaser.

Next, the motor 19 is operated to move the product take-out mechanism 18 to the position of the product selected by the product purchaser. Then, after the product is taken out by the product take-out mechanism 18 (Step 607), the motor 13 is operated to move the elevator 3 to the standby position corresponding to the origin sensor 17, and the motor 13 is stopped (Step 608). .

Further, the control device 100 controls the elevator 3
The motor 13 is operated so as to head toward the product outlet (step 609), and the number of pulses corresponding to the product outlet is read from the memory 140 (step 610). Then, the pulse counter 150 counts the number of pulses generated by the encoder 14 until the number of pulses matches the number of pulses (step 611). Then, when they match (step 612), the stop controller 160 stops the motor 13 to stop the elevator 3 (step 613).
As a result, the elevator 3 stops at the height of the product outlet.

Further, since the product take-out mechanism 18 carries out the product to the product take-out port (step 614), the product purchaser can obtain the desired product. Thereafter, the motor 13 is operated to return the elevator 3 to the standby position (step 615). When the elevator 3 reaches the upper limit or the lower limit of the movement, the limit switch 1
Since the motor 13 is stopped by being detected by the motors 5 and 16, overshoot is prevented.

2-2. Correction work: FIG. 7 When the normal operation as described above is continued, the pitch of the chains 1 and 2 changes due to the above-described causes. For this reason, the nuts 4 and 5 of the chains 1 and 2 are loosened to
a, 2a to move the chains 1, 2,
Then, the nuts 4 and 5 are tightened again to re-stretch the chains 1 and 2. At this time, the operator indicates the scale 1 indicated by the protrusions of the pointers 1c and 2c.
The numerical values of b and 2b are visually recognized, and these numerical values are input from the operation panel (step 701). Then, the pitch correction value calculation unit 1
The correction value of the pitch is calculated by 30 (step 702).

For example, chains 1 and 2 as shown in FIG.
The case where the number of links β is 20 will be described. That is, if the chains 1 and 2 are re-stretched and the pointers 1c and 2c move by one scale, in the above example, one scale is 2 mm, and thus a value obtained by dividing the distance 2 mm of one scale by the number of links 20. 0.1 mm is an extended distance of the chain pitch. Therefore, 0. 0 in the initial chain pitch of 10 mm.
10.1 mm, which is a value obtained by adding 1 mm, is calculated as a new chain pitch correction value.

Then, based on the corrected value of the chain pitch, the unit moving distance calculating section 110 recalculates the moving distance per one pulse generated by the encoder 14 (step 703). become.

(10 × 10.1) /100=1.01 (mm) Therefore, in this example, the moving distance per pulse is 1.01 mm.

The number-of-pulses calculating section 120 divides the distance from the standby position to the position of each product shelf and the position of the product exit by the newly calculated moving distance per pulse, thereby obtaining the elevator. Calculate the number of pulses required until the position No. 3 moves from the standby position to the position of each product shelf and the position of the product outlet (step 70).
4), the number of pulses recorded in the memory 140 is updated (step 705). The position control as described above is performed based on the updated values.

3. Effects of this embodiment The effects of this embodiment as described above are as follows. That is, in the case where the position control of the elevator 3 is performed based on the movement distance per pulse calculated based on the chain pitch, the chain pitch changes so much as to require re-stretching due to wear of the chain over time or the like. However, the amount of change in the chain pitch can be easily and accurately grasped only by visually checking the values of the scales 1b and 2b indicated by the hands 1c and 2c.

Then, the operator visually checks the scale 1b,
By simply inputting the value of 2b to the operation panel, the control device 100
Numerical values required for control are automatically corrected,
Accurate control can be easily continued.

4. Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the size, shape, number, material, and the like of each member can be appropriately changed. For example, various settings such as the type and number of chains, the pitch and link number of chains, the number of teeth of sprockets, the number and width of scales, and the like are not limited to the numerical values shown in the above embodiment. Motors, encoders,
The type and number of sensors and the like are not limited to the above embodiment. Further, the control device can be constituted not only by a dedicated microcomputer but also by a general-purpose computer operated by a predetermined program.

The direction of the chain is not limited to the vertical direction. For example, in the case of a vending machine that needs to convey goods in an oblique direction, it is arranged in an oblique direction, and in the case of a vending machine that needs to convey goods in a horizontal direction, it is arranged in a horizontal direction. It is also possible. Further, the product transport member is not limited to a horizontal elevator. For example, it may be hook-shaped or box-shaped.

Further, by setting the position of the origin sensor at a height corresponding to the product outlet, the standby position can be adjusted to the product outlet. With such a configuration,
The procedure for returning the elevator to the standby position during the transportation of the product can be omitted. Further, the pulse number calculation unit calculates the number of pulses required to move from the current position to the destination based on the number of pulses corresponding to the current position of the elevator and the number of pulses corresponding to the destination position. By performing the above control based on the number of pulses, the elevator can be directly moved to the target destination even if the elevator is not waiting at the standby position.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a product conveying device capable of easily and accurately grasping a change in the pitch of an endless chain. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a control method of a product transport apparatus capable of easily and accurately grasping a change in the pitch of an endless chain and accurately controlling a stop position of a transported product. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a product transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view (A) and a front view (B) showing an adjustment portion of the chain in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control device according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a chain pitch in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the number of links in a chain in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a normal operation procedure in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a correction operation in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, ... chain 1a, 2a ... long hole 1b, 2b ... scale 1c, 2c ... pointer part 3 ... elevator 4,5 ... nut 6, 7, 8, 9 ... sprocket 10 ... shaft 11 ... pulley 12 ... belt 13 ... Motor 14 Encoder 15, 16 Limit switch 17 Origin sensor 18 Product take-out mechanism 19 Motor 20 Adjustment unit 100 Control unit 110 Unit travel distance calculation unit 120 Pulse number calculation unit 130 Pitch correction value calculation unit 140 ... memory 150 ... pulse counter 160 ... stop control unit 601 and later ... each step of the procedure α ... pitch β ... number of links

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article conveying device comprising: an endless chain to which a product conveying member is attached; a motor for rotating the chain; and an adjusting unit for adjusting the length of the chain. And a scale for visually confirming the length of expansion and contraction of the chain. 2. An encoder that emits a pulse for controlling the motor; a unit moving distance calculating unit that calculates a moving distance of a chain per pulse generated by the encoder based on a pitch of the chain; Based on the distance the chain travels per pulse,
Pulse number calculating means for calculating the number of pulses required for the chain to move a desired distance, input means for inputting the value of the scale, and, based on the value of the scale input by the input means, The goods conveying device according to claim 1, further comprising: a pitch correction value calculating unit configured to calculate a correction value of a pitch of the chain. 3. Based on the pitch of an endless chain to which a product conveying member is attached and which is rotated by a motor,
The moving distance of the chain per pulse generated by the encoder is calculated, and the number of pulses required for the chain to move a desired distance is calculated based on the moving distance of the chain per pulse. In the control method of the commodity transport apparatus that controls the motor based on the number of pulses, a correction value of the pitch of the chain is calculated based on a value of a scale at which the expansion and contraction length of the chain can be visually recognized. A method for controlling a product transport device.