JP2021074889A - Conveyance time calculation program of pile and automatic conveyance system of pile - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a conveyance time calculation program of a pile which enables conveyance of the pile to be efficiently performed, and an automatic conveyance system of the pile.SOLUTION: There is provided a conveyance time calculation program of a pile which causes a computer to function as conveyance time calculation means 30 that acquires the reservation number included in a printing command for causing a printer to execute printing of paper sheets, the printed number of paper sheets printed after the start of printing by the printing command and the printing speed of the printer, and calculates the time at which the printing processing by the printing command is finished as the conveyance scheduled time at which conveyance of a pile formed by laminating the plurality of paper sheets for the printer is needed by using the formula (1). There is also provided an automatic conveyance system of the pile which includes the conveyance time calculation means 30 that functions with the conveyance time calculation program.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a pile transport time calculation program that calculates the time when a pile of stacked sheets for printing is required to be transported, and an automatic pile transport system that automatically transports the pile.

Conventionally, a system for automatically performing pile transport work is known. For example, in Patent Document 1, a first intaglio printing machine for printing the front surface of a sheet of paper and a back surface of the sheet of paper are used. A transport system including an unmanned transport vehicle for transporting piles to and from a second intaglio printing press for printing is disclosed.

In such a transport system, an unmanned transport vehicle takes out a pile from the sheet-sheet ejection station of the first intaglio printing press, and a pile taken out from the sheet-sheet ejection station of the first intaglio printing press is printed on the second intaglio. Since the operation of transporting the pile to the sheet paper supply station of the machine is automatically repeated, the pile can be transported from the first intaglio printing press to the second intaglio printing press without any manual operation. You can do it.

Special Table 2010-527822

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional transport system, the timing at which the unmanned transport vehicle arrives at the sheet paper discharge station of the first intaglio printing machine or the sheet paper supply station of the second intaglio printing machine, and the pile transport work, specifically Specifically, the timing at which the pile is taken out from the sheet paper ejection station of the first intaglio printing press and the pile is supplied to the sheet paper supply station of the second intaglio printing press is different from the timing required. There is.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional transfer system, if the automatic guided vehicle does not arrive at a predetermined position when the transfer work is required, the transfer work by the automatic guided vehicle may be delayed.

Therefore, in view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pile transport time calculation program that enables efficient pile transport and an automatic pile transport system.

The pile transport time calculation program of the present invention
Computer,
The reserved number of sheets Nr included in the printing command for causing the printing machine to print the sheet of paper, the number of printed sheets of paper printed after the start of printing by the printing command Np, and the printing speed of the printing machine. Get V1 and
A transport time calculation means for calculating the time at which the printing process by the printing command is completed according to the following formula (1) as the scheduled transport time Tc at which the pile formed by stacking a plurality of sheets of paper needs to be transported to the printing machine. To function as.

According to the pile transport time calculation program having the above configuration, the time when the printing process ends (scheduled transport time) can be calculated, so that the scheduled transport time is notified to the operator or the automatic guided vehicle that transports the pile. For example, the pile can be transported by utilizing the time between the printing processes.

Therefore, the pile transport time calculation program can enable a worker or an automatic guided vehicle to smoothly transport the pile by appropriately grasping the time available for transporting the pile.

The pile transport time calculation program of the present invention
When the printing process being executed is stopped, the transport time calculation means may be configured to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again.

When the printing process being executed is stopped, the end time of the printing process is delayed from the scheduled transportation time initially calculated by the transportation time calculation means. However, in the pile transportation time calculation program having the above configuration, the printing being executed is being performed. When the processing is stopped, the scheduled transportation time is recalculated by the transportation time calculation means, so that the end time of the printing process can be correctly grasped.

The pile transport time calculation program of the present invention
When there are no more sheets of paper that can be fed into the paper feed section of the printing press, or when the number of sheets of sheets ejected to the paper ejection section of the printing press reaches the upper limit, the transport time The calculation means may be configured to recalculate the scheduled transport time Tc.

If there are no more sheets of paper that can be fed into the paper feed section, or if the number of sheets of paper in the output section reaches the upper limit, the sheet sheets can be replenished to the paper feed section during the printing process. The sheet of paper in the paper ejection section is removed. During this period, since the printing process continues to be stopped, the end time of the printing process will be later than the scheduled transport time initially calculated by the transport time calculation means. However, the pile transport time calculation program having the above configuration executes the print process. When the printing process in the process is stopped, the scheduled transport time is calculated again by the transport time calculation means, so that the end time of the print process can be correctly grasped.

The pile transport time calculation program of the present invention
When the content of the printing command is changed while the printing process is being executed, the transport time calculating means may be made to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again.

If the print command is changed during the execution of the print process, the completion time of the print process may change accordingly. However, in the pile transfer time calculation program having the above configuration, if the print command is changed, the transfer is performed. Since the scheduled transportation time is recalculated by the time calculation means, the end time of the printing process can be correctly grasped.

The pile automatic transfer system of the present invention
An automatic guided vehicle that is self-propelled and is configured to transport piles of multiple sheets of paper to a printing press.
A control device for controlling the drive of the automatic guided vehicle is provided.
The control device is
The reserved number of sheets Nr included in the printing command for causing the printing machine to print the sheet of paper, the number of printed sheets of paper printed after the start of printing by the printing command Np, and the printing speed of the printing machine. A transport time calculation means that calculates the time Tc at which the printing process by the print command ends according to the following equation (2) as the scheduled transport time at which pile transport is required after acquiring V1 and
It has an instruction transmitting means for transmitting a movement command for moving to arrive at the printing machine at the scheduled transportation time calculated by the transportation time calculating means to the automatic guided vehicle.

According to the pile automatic transport system having the above configuration, after calculating the time when the printing process ends (scheduled transport time), the automatic guided vehicle is instructed to arrive at the printing press at the scheduled transport time. By using the time between printing processes (the time that can be used for transporting the pile) to transport the pile, the pile can be smoothly transported.

The pile automatic transfer system of the present invention
When the printing command is set with specification change information indicating that the specifications of the sheet of the pile supplied to the paper feed section of the printing machine are changed, the transfer time calculation means uses the transfer scheduled time. The process of calculating the movement command and the process of transmitting the movement command from the command transmitting means to the automatic guided vehicle may be executed.

When changing the specifications of the sheet paper after printing is completed, it is necessary to transport the pile of the paper feed section and the paper ejection section. However, in the automatic pile transport system with the above configuration, the automatic guided vehicle is adjusted to the printing end time. Can be smoothly transported by moving the pile to the location of the printing machine.

In the pile automatic transfer system of the present invention
When the transport time calculation means detects a state in which the printing process being executed is stopped, the transport time calculation means recalculates the scheduled transport time Tc.
The command transmitting means may be configured to retransmit the moving command to the automatic guided vehicle based on the recalculated scheduled transport time Tc.

When the printing process being executed is stopped, the end time of the printing process is later than the scheduled transportation time initially calculated by the transport time calculation means. However, in the pile automatic transport system having the above configuration, the print process being executed is performed. When is stopped, the scheduled transport time can be recalculated by the transport time calculation means, and the unmanned transport vehicle can be appropriately moved according to the end time of the printing process.

In the pile automatic transfer system of the present invention
In the transport time calculation means, the number of sheets that can be fed to the paper feed section of the printing machine is exhausted, or the number of sheets of sheets that are ejected to the paper ejection section of the printing machine reaches the upper limit. It may be configured to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again when the said state is detected.

If there are no more sheets of paper that can be fed in the paper feed section, or if the number of sheets of paper in the output section reaches the upper limit, the print process continues to be stopped as described above, so the print process Although the end time of the paper will be later than the scheduled transport time initially calculated by the transport time calculation means, in the pile automatic transport system having the above configuration, if the printing process being executed is stopped, the transport time calculation means is used. The scheduled transport time can be calculated again, and the unmanned transport vehicle can be appropriately moved according to the end time of the printing process.

In the pile automatic transfer system of the present invention
The transport time calculation means may be configured to recalculate the scheduled transport time Tc when a state in which the content of the print command is changed is detected while the print process is being executed. ..

If the print instruction is changed during the execution of the print process, the completion time of the print process may change accordingly. However, in the pile transfer time calculation program having the above configuration, if the print instruction is changed, the transfer is performed. The scheduled transport time can be recalculated by the time calculation means, and the unmanned transport vehicle can be appropriately moved according to the end time of the printing process.

As described above, according to the pile transport time calculation program of the present invention and the pile automatic transport system, the pile transport can be smoothly performed by correctly grasping the time that can be used for pile transport. It can have an excellent effect of becoming.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an automatic pile transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an automatic pile transfer system according to the same embodiment. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of an information data structure used in the pile automatic transfer system according to the same embodiment, FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram of a print instruction data structure, and FIG. 3B is a movement instruction data. It is explanatory drawing of the structure. 4A and 4B are explanatory views of a print control unit, FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram of a state in which three print commands are received, FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a print command is selected as an execution target, and (c). ) Is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a print process is executed based on a print command selected as an execution target, (d) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which another print command is selected as an execution target, and (e) is an execution target. It is explanatory drawing of the state which is executing the print process based on another print command selected as. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a process of transmitting a movement command from the control device to the automatic guided vehicle in the pile automatic transport system according to the same embodiment, and FIG. 5A shows a case where the current time is before the scheduled transport time. , (B) indicate the case where the current time is after the scheduled transportation time. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for calculating a scheduled transportation time in the pile automatic transportation system according to the same embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process of transmitting a movement command to an automatic guided vehicle and a process of transmitting a transport work command to an automatic guided vehicle in the pile automatic transfer system according to the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, an automatic pile transport system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The pile is composed of stacked sheets of paper, and the pile of the stacked sheets of paper before printing by the printing machine is fed and the pile after printing by the printing machine. The pile in which these are stacked is called a paper discharge pile.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic guided vehicle 1 includes an automatic guided vehicle 2 that is self-propelled and configured to carry the pile P, and a control device 3 that controls the drive of the automatic guided vehicle 2. I have. The control device 3 may be a device different from the printing machine 4, or may be built in the printing machine 4.

Here, the printing machine 4 detects a state in which the paper feed unit 40 for arranging the paper feed pile Pi in which the sheets of paper before printing are stacked and the state in which there is no paper sheet that can be fed in the paper feed unit 40 are detected. The number of sheets discharged to the paper feeding side detection unit 41, the paper ejection unit 42 in which the paper ejection pile Po on which the printed sheet sheets are stacked, and the paper ejection unit 42 are arranged reaches the upper limit. It has a paper ejection side detection unit 43 for detecting the printed state, and a print control unit 44 for executing the printing process.

The state in which there is no paper sheet that can be fed in the paper feed unit 40 means that there is no sheet paper in the paper feed unit 40, or a predetermined state in the paper feed unit 40. When it is configured to feed paper only when a number or more sheets of paper remain, it means that the number of sheets of paper in the paper feed unit 40 is less than the predetermined number. ..

The paper feed side detection unit 41 is configured to output a signal to the control device 3 when it detects that there is no sheet that can be fed in the paper feed unit 40. The paper feed side detection unit 41 is configured to output a signal regardless of the execution state of the print process. For example, a sheet sheet that can be fed into the paper feed unit 40 when the print process is completed. It is possible to output a signal to the control device 3 even when it is detected that there is no paper.

When the paper ejection side detection unit 43 detects a state in which the number of sheets of paper arranged in the paper ejection unit 42 reaches the upper limit (the upper limit of the number of sheets of paper that can be arranged in the paper ejection unit 42), the control device It is configured to output a signal to 3. The output side detection unit 43 is also configured to output a signal regardless of the execution state of the print process. For example, the number of sheets of paper in the output unit 42 is increased when the print process is completed. It is possible to output a signal to the control device 3 even when a state in which the upper limit has been reached is detected.

As described above, the signal output from the paper feed side detection unit 41 is a signal indicating that the pile P needs to be conveyed (carried) to the paper feed unit 40, and is output from the paper discharge side detection unit 43. The signal is a signal indicating that the pile P of the paper ejection unit 42 needs to be conveyed (carried out).

The print control unit 44 prints (referred to as a printing process) of the sheet paper (sheet sheet paper constituting the paper feed pile Pi) based on the print command which is the information for ordering the printing of the sheet paper. It is configured in. The printing command is input to the printing machine 4 from a terminal such as a personal computer owned by the core system of the printing company or the operator of the printing machine 4.

More specifically, the print control unit 44 includes a print preparation process that selects a received print command as an execution target, and a print execution process that executes a print process based on the print command selected in the print preparation process. , Is configured to run.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the print command D1 includes the number of sheets of paper to be printed (reserved number of sheets) Nr, the printing speed V1 of the printing machine 4, and the pile P (paper feed) after the printing is completed. It includes a transport command D10 indicating the necessity of transport work (at least one of the pile Pi and the output pile Po).

The transport command D10 is a specification change command D100 for designating the specifications of the sheet paper used for the printing process, and a designation command arbitrarily set by the user, indicating the necessity of the transport work after the printing process is completed. The designation instruction D101 and the like are included.

The specifications of the sheet of paper are the thickness, size, paper type (for example, material of the paper), etc. of the sheet of paper, and the specification change order D100 of the present embodiment gives the changed sheet of paper. The thickness, size, and paper type are set as the specifications of. That is, the specification change instruction D100 is information indicating that the pile P must be conveyed in order to change the sheet paper used for the printing process to another specification. Further, in the designation command D101, a paper feed pile Pi or a paper discharge pile Po is set as the pile P that requires the transfer work.

The printing machine 4 stores the number of sheets of paper (the number of printed sheets) that have been printed since the execution of the printing process based on the printing command D1 is started, and further, the number of printed sheets is stored in a state where the printing process is completed. It is configured to reset.

In the present embodiment, the state of the print instruction D1 before being selected as the execution target by the print preparation process is referred to as a reserved state. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, three print instructions D1 (in FIG. 3, D1A, D1B, and D1C are attached to the respective print instructions) are in the reserved state.

The print control unit 44 selects the print instruction D1 in the reserved state as the execution target in the print preparation process. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, the print instruction D1A received first is selected as the execution target among the three print instructions D1A, D1B, and D1C. The print instruction D1 selected as the execution target is in a state of waiting for execution of the print execution process (hereinafter, referred to as a standby state). In the present embodiment, the print preparation process will be described by taking as an example a case where the print instruction D1A received first among the three print instructions D1A, D1B, and D1C is selected as the execution target. The order in which the print instructions D1A, D1B, and D1C are selected as execution targets can also be set by the operator.

Then, when the print execution process is executed, the print process is executed based on the print instruction D1 selected in the print preparation process. In the example shown in FIG. 4C, the print process is executed based on the print command D1A selected in the print preparation process. In the present embodiment, the state of the print instruction D1 in which the print process is executed is referred to as an execution state.

When the print process is completed, if there is a print command D1 in the reserved state, the print preparation process selects the print command D1 as an execution target, and the print execution process executes the print process based on the print command D1. In the example shown in FIGS. 4 (d) and 4 (e), of the two reserved print commands D1B and D1C, one of the previously received print commands D1B is selected by the print preparation process as the execution target. .. After that, the print execution process executes the print process based on the print instruction D1B.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic guided vehicle 2 is a so-called AGV, and is configured to automatically move along a preset movement route. The movement route is set so as to pass through the paper feeding unit 40, the paper discharging unit 42, the pile storage space S, and the like. Further, the automatic guided vehicle 2 can send and receive information to and from the control device 3, and when a command (movement command and transport command D10 to be described later) is received from the control device 3, an operation (movement) based on the command is performed. , Transport work, information output, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 3 includes a transport time calculating means 30 that calculates the end time of the printing process based on the print instruction D1 as the scheduled transport time of the pile P (the time when the pile P needs to be transported). The movement command means 31 that outputs a move command to the unmanned transport vehicle 2 based on the scheduled transport time calculated by the transport time calculation means 30, and the transport work command for executing the transport work of the pile P are sent to the unmanned transport vehicle 2. It has a transport command means 32 for outputting.

The transport time calculation means 30 has a command determination means 300 for determining the presence or absence of the print command D1 in the standby state, and a transport command for the print command D1 when the command determination means 300 determines that there is a print command D1 in the standby state. The transport confirmation means 301 for confirming the contents of the D10, the pre-print calculation means 302 for executing the process of calculating the end time of the print process according to the confirmation result of the transport command D10 by the transport confirmation means 301, and the print command in the execution state. It has a monitoring means 303 that monitors (determines) the presence or absence of D1, and a recalculation means 304 that executes a process of recalculating the end time of the printing process being executed according to the monitoring result of the monitoring means 303.

When the command determination means 300 determines that there is a print command D1 in the standby state, the transfer confirmation means 301 is executed, and when it is determined that there is a print command D1 in the execution state, the monitoring means 303 is executed. It is configured.

The command determination means 300 determines that there is a print command D1 in the standby state when the print control unit 44 is executing the print preparation process and the print command D1 is selected. Further, the instruction determination means 300 determines that there is no print instruction D1 in the standby state when the print control unit 44 is not executing the print preparation process or the print preparation process is being executed but the print instruction D1 is executing. If not selected.

Therefore, the transfer time calculation means 30 is configured to execute the process by the transfer confirmation means 301 when the print control unit 44 is in a state before starting the print process.

The transport confirmation means 301 is configured to execute a specification confirmation process for confirming the contents of the specification change instruction D100 and a designation confirmation process for confirming the contents of the designation instruction D101.

In the specification confirmation process, it is determined whether or not the information indicating the specifications of the sheet paper (in this embodiment, the thickness, size, and paper type of the sheet paper) is set in the specification change command D100, and the sheet sheet paper is used. If it is determined that the information indicating the specifications is set, the execution is performed by the pre-printing calculation means 302, and if it is determined that the information indicating the specifications of the sheet paper is not set, the designation confirmation process is executed.

Further, in the designation confirmation process, when it is determined that the information indicating the specifications of the sheet paper is set in the specification change instruction D100, the paper feed unit 40 or the discharge unit 40 or the discharge is added to the destination information indicating the destination of the automatic guided vehicle 2. The paper portion 42 is set. The destination information may be configured so that at least one of the paper feeding unit 40 and the paper discharging unit 42 is set.

In the designation confirmation process, it is determined whether the paper feed unit 40 is set in the designation command D101, the paper discharge unit 42 is set, and neither the paper feed unit 40 nor the paper discharge unit 42 is set, and the paper is fed. If the unit 40 or the paper ejection unit 42 is set, the process is executed by the transport time calculation means 30, and if the paper feed unit 40 and the paper ejection unit 42 are not set, the process ends.

Further, in the designation confirmation process, when it is determined that the paper feed unit 40 is set in the designation command D101, the paper feed unit 40 is set in the destination information, and the paper discharge unit 42 is set in the designation command D101. If it is determined, the paper ejection unit 42 is set in the destination information.

The pre-printing calculation means 302 performs an information acquisition process for acquiring the reserved number of sheets Nr set in the print command D1 acquired by the command acquisition means, the number of printed sheets Np, and the printing speed V1 of the printing machine 4. According to the equation (3), the calculation process of calculating the time T at which the printing process by the print command D1 ends as the scheduled transfer time when the pile P needs to be transported is executed.

Further, the pre-printing calculation means 302 is configured to create a movement command D2 by associating the calculated scheduled transportation time Tc with the destination information D20 (see FIG. 3B).

The monitoring means 303 normally performs an execution monitoring process for determining the presence or absence of the print instruction D1 in the execution state, and a print process based on the print instruction D1 in the execution state when the determination process determines that there is a print instruction D1 in the execution state. It is configured to execute an abnormality monitoring process that determines whether or not it is being performed.

In the abnormality monitoring process, when it is detected that a signal is output from the paper feed side detection unit 41 or the paper discharge side detection unit 43, the recalculation means 304 executes the process, and the paper feed side detection unit 41 and the paper discharge side detection unit 41 and If no signal is output from the paper ejection side detection unit 43, the process is terminated without executing the process by the recalculation means 304.

As described above, the monitoring means 303 is configured to recalculate the scheduled transport time Tc based on the time when the recalculation means 304 restarts the printing process when the printing process being executed is stopped.

Similar to the pre-printing calculation means 302, the recalculation means 304 performs an information acquisition process for acquiring the reserved number of sheets Nr, the number of printed sheets Np, and the printing speed V1 of the printing machine 4, and a printing command by the above equation (3). It is configured to execute the calculation process of calculating the time when the printing process by D1 ends as the scheduled transfer time (new scheduled transfer time) Tc.

Further, the recalculation means 304 is configured to create a movement command D2 by associating the calculated scheduled transportation time Tc with the destination information D20.

The movement command means 31 includes a movement start time calculation means 310 that calculates a movement start time that can arrive at the printing press 4 in time for the scheduled transportation time Tc, and a movement start time that is calculated by the movement start time calculation means 310. It has a mobile command output means 311 that outputs a mobile command based on the current time and the current time.

The movement start time calculation means 310 is based on, for example, the distance D from the current location of the automatic guided vehicle 2 to which the movement command D2 is output to the printing press 4, and the movement speed V2 of the automatic guided vehicle 2. The travel time Tm from the current location to the printing press 4 is calculated by 4), and the travel start time Ts is calculated by the following equation (5) based on the travel time Tm and the scheduled transport time Tc. Just do it.

The movement command means 31 compares the current time Tn with the start time Ts, and as shown in FIG. 5A, adjusts to the start time Ts when the current time Tn is earlier than the start time Ts. The movement command is output to the automatic guided vehicle 2, and as shown in FIG. 5B, when the current time Tn is after the start time Ts, the movement command is immediately output to the automatic guided vehicle 2.

The transport command means 32 commands the automatic guided vehicle 2 to carry out the transport work based on the arrival determination means 320 that determines whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at the printing press 4 and the determination result of the arrival determination means 320. It has a transport command output means 321 for outputting (transport work command).

The arrival determination means 320 may determine, for example, whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at the printing machine 4 by comparing the current location of the automatic guided vehicle 2 with the installation position of the printing machine 4. Further, the arrival determination means 320 may compare the current location of the automatic guided vehicle 2 with the installation position of the printing machine 4 according to the scheduled transportation time Tc, or may compare the current location of the automatic guided vehicle 2 with the current location of the automatic guided vehicle 2 at predetermined time intervals. It may be compared with the installation position of the printing machine 4.

When the transport command output means 321 detects the signal output from the paper feed side detection unit 41 or the paper discharge side detection unit 43 and detects the state in which the printing process is completed, the transport command output means 321 transports the signal to the automatic guided vehicle 2. It is configured to output work commands.

The configuration of the pile automatic transfer system 1 of the present embodiment is as described above. Subsequently, the operation of the pile automatic transfer system 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pile automatic transfer system 1 determines whether the print command D1 received by the command determination means 300 in the print control unit 44 is in the standby state (S1).

When the command determination means 300 determines that there is a print command D1 in the standby state (Yes in S1), the transport confirmation means 301 confirms the content of the transport command D10.

The transport confirmation means 301 confirms the content of the specification change command D100 by the specification confirmation process, and when any of the thickness, size, and paper type of the sheet of paper is set in the specification change command D100 (any of S2 to S4). Yes), the paper feed unit 40 or the paper discharge unit 42 is set in the destination information D20, and the process proceeds to the calculation process of the scheduled transport time Tc by the pre-print calculation means 302 (S5).

On the other hand, if none of the thickness, size, and paper type of the sheet of paper is set in the specification change instruction D100 (all of S2 to S4 are No), the designation confirmation process is performed without executing the pre-print calculation means 302. The process proceeds to the process of confirming the contents of the designated instruction D101 by.

When the transport confirmation means 301 determines in the designation confirmation process that the paper discharge unit 42 is set in the designation command D101 (Yes in S6), the paper discharge unit 42 is set in the destination information D20, and further printing is performed. The scheduled transport time Tc is calculated by the pre-calculation means 302 (S5). If it is determined in the designation confirmation process that the paper feed unit 40 is set instead of the paper discharge unit 42 in the designation command D101 (No in S6 and Yes in S7), the paper feed unit 40 is added to the destination information D20. After setting, the scheduled transport time Tc is calculated by the pre-printing calculation means 302 (S5).

On the other hand, when the transport confirmation means 301 determines that neither the paper ejection unit 42 nor the paper feed unit 40 is set in the designation command D101 in the designation confirmation process (No in S6 and No in S7), the pre-print calculation means. The process ends without executing 302.

Then, when the pre-printing calculation means 302 calculates the scheduled transport time Tc, the pre-print calculation means 302 creates the move command D2 by associating the scheduled transport time Tc with the destination information D20.

Subsequently, when the movement command D1 is output from the control device 3 to the automatic guided vehicle 2, the movement start time calculation means 310 calculates the movement start time Ts (S8) and the current time, as shown in FIG. Tn is compared with the movement start time Ts (S9).

When the movement start time calculation means 310 determines that the current time Tn is earlier than the movement start time Ts (No in S9), it is when the current time Tn reaches the start time Ts (Yes in S9). The movement command D1 is output to the automatic guided vehicle 2 (S10).

On the other hand, when the movement start time calculation means 310 determines that the current time Tn is later than the movement start time Ts (Yes in S9), the movement command D1 is immediately output to the automatic guided vehicle 2 (Yes). S10).

Then, when the control device 3 outputs a transport work command to the automatic guided vehicle 2, the arrival determination means 320 determines whether or not the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at the printing press 4 (S11).

When the arrival determination means 320 determines that the automatic guided vehicle 2 has arrived at the printing machine 4 (Yes in S11) and a signal is output from the paper ejection side detection unit 43, or from the paper feed side detection unit 41. When a signal is output (Yes in either S12 or S13), when the transport command output means 321 confirms the print processing status (S14) and detects that the print processing is complete (Yes). Yes) in S14, and a transport work command is output to the automatic guided vehicle 2 (S15).

As a result, the automatic guided vehicle 2 that has arrived at the printing machine 4 executes the transport work for the paper feed pile Pi or the paper discharge pile Po.

Further, the pile automatic transfer system 1 according to the present embodiment monitors whether the print process is normally executed while the print process is being executed based on the print instruction D1, and the print process is interrupted. In that case, the scheduled transportation time Tc is recalculated.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, even when the instruction determination means 300 determines that there is no print instruction D1 in the standby state (No in S1), the monitoring means 303 executes the execution monitoring process. When it is determined that there is the print instruction D1 of the state (Yes in S16), the abnormality monitoring process by the monitoring means 303 is executed.

When the monitoring means 303 detects that a signal is output from the paper ejection side detection unit 43 or the paper feed side detection unit 41 in the execution monitoring process (Yes in either S17 or S18), the destination information After setting the paper feed unit 40 or the paper discharge unit 42 to, the recalculation means 304 recalculates the scheduled transfer time (S19).

When the scheduled transport time Tc is newly calculated by the recalculation means 304 and the print command D1 including the scheduled transport time Tc is created, the print command D1 is output to the automatic guided vehicle 2 by the movement command means 31 for transport. The transfer work of the pile P is performed by outputting the transfer work command to the automatic guided vehicle 2 by the command output means 321.

As described above, the automatic pile transport system 1 of the present embodiment calculates the time when the printing process ends (scheduled transport time Tc), and then sets the printing machine 4 at the scheduled transport time Tc for the unmanned transport vehicle 2. Since the move command D1 is output so as to arrive at the location of, the pile P is transported smoothly by using the time between printing processes (the time that can be used for transporting the pile P). Can be done.

Further, when changing the specifications of the sheet paper after the printing is completed, it is necessary to transport the pile P of the paper feeding unit 40 and the paper discharging unit 42. However, in the automatic pile transport system 1 having the above configuration, the printing end time is reached. By moving the automatic guided vehicle 2 to the location of the printing machine 4 in accordance with the above, the pile P can be smoothly transported.

Further, when the printing process during execution is stopped, more specifically, when there is no paper sheet that can be fed in the paper feeding unit 40, or the number of sheets of paper in the paper ejection unit 42 is the upper limit. When the value is reached, the printing process continues to be stopped while the sheet-feeding unit 40 is replenished with the sheet-fed paper and the sheet-sheet sheet in the paper ejection unit 42 is removed. Therefore, the end time of the printing process is set. It will be later than the scheduled transport time calculated by the transport time calculation means 30. However, in the pile automatic transfer system 1 of the present embodiment, when the printing process being executed is stopped, the transfer time calculation means 30 recalculates the scheduled transfer time, so that the end time of the print process is correctly grasped. , The automatic guided vehicle 2 can be appropriately moved according to this time.

Further, in the pile transport time calculation program for causing the control device 3 to execute the transport time calculation means 30, the time when the printing process ends (scheduled transport time) can be calculated, so that the scheduled transport time Tc is set as the pile. If the worker who transports P or the unmanned transport vehicle 2 is notified, the pile P can be transported by using the time between the printing processes.

Therefore, the pile transport time calculation program makes it possible for the operator or the automatic guided vehicle 2 to smoothly transport the pile P by appropriately grasping the time available for transporting the pile P. Can be done.

Further, if the number of sheets that can be fed is exhausted in the paper feeding unit 40 or the number of sheets of paper in the paper ejection unit 42 reaches the upper limit, the printing process cannot be continued, so that the paper feeding unit 40 is reached. The sheet of paper is replenished and the sheet of paper in the paper ejection section 42 is removed. During this period, the printing process is interrupted, so that the time when the printing process ends is delayed from the scheduled transportation time calculated by the transportation time calculating means 30.

In the pile transport time calculation program having the above configuration, when the print process is interrupted, the transport time calculation means 30 recalculates the scheduled transport time Tc, so that the time when the print process ends can be correctly grasped.

The pile transport time calculation program of the present invention and the automatic pile transport system 1 are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. is there.

Although not particularly mentioned in the above embodiment, the printing plate or the like may be transported by the automatic guided vehicle 2 in addition to the pile P according to the scheduled transportation time Tc.

Although not particularly mentioned in the above embodiment, the transport time calculation means 30 may be configured to be executed by a program (pile transport time calculation program) introduced in the control device 3. Further, the command acquisition means, the transport determination means, the interruption detection means, and the command output means may also be configured to be executed by the program introduced in the control device 3.

Although not particularly mentioned in the above embodiment, the transport time calculation means 30 may be calculated using the scheduled transport time Tc as a time, or may be configured to be substantially calculated as a time by time calculation. Good.

In the above embodiment, only the case where either the paper feeding unit 40 or the paper discharging unit 42 is set in the destination information has been given as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, both the paper feeding unit 40 and the paper discharging unit 42 may be set in the destination information. However, it is preferable to associate and set the priority information for preferentially selecting either the paper feeding unit 40 or the paper discharging unit 42 with respect to the destination information.

In the above embodiment, the monitoring means 303 executes a state in which there is no sheet that can be fed in the paper feeding unit 40 or a state in which the number of sheets discharged to the paper ejection unit 42 has reached the upper limit. It was configured to detect that the printing process inside was stopped, but it is not limited to this configuration. The monitoring means 303 is, for example, an abnormality that has occurred in the sheet paper transport system of the printing machine 4 (for example, a malfunction of the paper feed unit 40 (paper feed failure) or a mistake in transporting the sheet paper in the printing machine 4). , The printing process may be stopped due to a malfunction of the paper ejection unit (paper ejection defect), etc., and the recalculation means 304 may be configured to recalculate the scheduled transport time Tc.

Further, the monitoring means 303 is in a state in which a safety device that stops the operation of the printing machine 4 by detecting that an operator or the like has entered the dangerous area inside or around the printing machine 4 is activated, or the operation of the safety device. It may be possible to detect a state in which the printing process is stopped.

Although not particularly mentioned in the above embodiment, the recalculation means 304 of the transport time calculation means 30 is the content of the print command D1 (more specifically, the number of prints and printing) in a state where the print process is being executed. It may be configured to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again when the content that affects the printing time such as the speed is changed.

If the content of the print command is changed during the execution of the print process, the completion time Tc of the print process may change. However, even if the print command is changed, the transport time calculation means 30 calculates the scheduled transport time Tc. If you fix it, you can correctly grasp the end time of the printing process.

1 ... Automatic transport system, 2 ... Unmanned transport vehicle, 3 ... Control device, 4 ... Printing machine, 30 ... Transport time calculation means, 31 ... Movement command means, 32 ... Transport command means, 40 ... Paper feed unit, 41 ... Supply Paper side detection unit, 42 ... Paper discharge unit, 43 ... Paper discharge side detection unit, 44 ... Print control unit, 300 ... Command determination means, 301 ... Transport confirmation means, 302 ... Pre-print calculation means, 303 ... Monitoring means, 304 ... recalculation means, 310 ... movement start time calculation means, 311 ... movement command output means, 320 ... arrival determination means, 321 ... transport command output means, D ... distance, D1 ... print command, D1 ... move command, D10 ... transport Command, D100 ... Specification change command, D101 ... Designation command, D1A, D1B, D1C ... Print command, D2 ... Move command, D20 ... Destination information, Np ... Printed number, Nr ... Reserved number, P ... Pile, Pi ... Paper feed pile, Po ... Paper discharge pile, S ... Pile storage, Tc ... Scheduled transport time, Tm ... Movement time, Tn ... Current time, Ts ... Start time, V1 ... Printing speed, V2 ... Movement speed

Claims (9)

The reserved number of sheets Nr included in the printing command for causing the printing machine to print the sheet of paper, the number of printed sheets of paper printed after the start of printing by the printing command Np, and the printing speed of the printing machine. Get V1 and
A transport time calculation means for calculating the time at which the printing process by the printing command is completed according to the following formula (1) as the scheduled transport time Tc at which the pile formed by stacking a plurality of sheets of paper needs to be transported to the printing machine. To function as
Pile transport time calculation program.

When the printing process being executed is stopped, the transport time calculation means is made to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again.
The pile transport time calculation program according to claim 1. When there are no more sheets of paper that can be fed into the paper feed section of the printing press, or when the number of sheets of sheets ejected to the paper ejection section of the printing press reaches the upper limit, the transport time Let the calculation means recalculate the scheduled transport time Tc.
The pile transport time calculation program according to claim 2. When the content of the print command is changed while the print process is being executed, the transport time calculation means is made to calculate the scheduled transport time Tc again.
The pile transport time calculation program according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An automatic guided vehicle that is self-propelled and is configured to transport piles of multiple sheets of paper to a printing press.
A control device for controlling the drive of the automatic guided vehicle is provided.
The control device is
The reserved number of sheets Nr included in the printing command for causing the printing machine to print the sheet of paper, the number of printed sheets of paper printed after the start of printing by the printing command Np, and the printing speed of the printing machine. A transport time calculation means that calculates the time Tc at which the printing process by the print command ends according to the following equation (2) as the scheduled transport time at which pile transport is required after acquiring V1 and
It has a command transmitting means for transmitting a moving command to the automatic guided vehicle to move so as to arrive at the printing machine at the scheduled transport time calculated by the transport time calculating means.
Automatic pile transfer system.

When the printing command is set with specification change information indicating that the specifications of the sheet of the pile supplied to the paper feed section of the printing machine are changed, the transfer time calculation means uses the transfer scheduled time. The process of calculating the movement command and the process of transmitting the movement command from the command transmitting means to the automatic guided vehicle are configured to be executed.
The automatic pile transport system according to claim 5. When the transport time calculation means detects a state in which the printing process being executed is stopped, the transport time calculation means recalculates the scheduled transport time Tc.
The command transmitting means is configured to retransmit the moving command to the automatic guided vehicle based on the recalculated scheduled transport time Tc.
The automatic pile transport system according to claim 5 or 6. In the transport time calculation means, the number of sheets that can be fed to the paper feed section of the printing machine is exhausted, or the number of sheets of sheets that are ejected to the paper ejection section of the printing machine reaches the upper limit. When the said state is detected, the scheduled transport time Tc is calculated again.
The automatic pile transport system according to claim 7. The transport time calculation means recalculates the scheduled transport time Tc when it detects a state in which the content of the print command is changed while the print process is being executed.
The automatic pile transport system according to claim 7 or 8.

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