JP2609833B2 - Method and apparatus for controlling collision prevention on transport path - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for sending a plurality of articles to be conveyed along a plurality of conveyance paths set between a plurality of conveyors.
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling collision prevention in a transport path adjusted so that a transported object does not collide with a transport path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The state of general processing in a processing step which requires further processing such as cutting and printing after manufacturing a plate-like material such as a corrugated cardboard sheet is described in, for example, JP-A-5-124721. As described in the above, in a corrugated cardboard manufacturing plant or the like, a necessary slit or fold is made in a flow direction of a continuous corrugated cardboard sheet by a corrugated cardboard manufacturing apparatus, and the corrugated cardboard sheet has a predetermined size in a flow direction of the corrugated cardboard sheet. Various rectangular corrugated cardboard sheets which are cut in the width direction of the corrugated cardboard sheet and creased are continuously produced at a high speed in predetermined quantities according to customer orders. The rectangular corrugated cardboard sheets are stacked at a predetermined height, and are conveyed as a batch to an outlet for each batch. Next to the corrugated cardboard manufacturing apparatus, a fixed storage space is provided, in which a predetermined amount of corrugated cardboard sheets for each of the conveyed batches is stored as a group and conveyed.

Further, in order to perform processing according to various orders according to customer requests such as printing, punching, and gluing, various corrugated board processing machines including a printing machine, a die cutter, and the like are linearly or subsequently processed in the next process. They are provided in parallel. Cardboard sheets stored in the storage space are
It is transported and supplied to any of the corrugated board processing machines as necessary, and the necessary processing is performed.

[0004] As a method of placing as many corrugated cardboard sheets as possible in a storage space and efficiently sending out the corrugated cardboard sheets in a current state of such a conveying process, a storage conveyor in which a flat material such as a corrugated cardboard sheet is placed in a fixed storage space. The above-mentioned publication describes a method of transporting the sheet-like material, which is stored for a certain period of time, and which sends out the plate-like object from a storage conveyor as needed.

[0005] In the transfer method according to this publication, the flat plate is stored for a certain period of time between the step of manufacturing the flat plate and the process of processing the flat plate, and the storage conveyor and its storage space are provided in a storage space provided for the transfer. A supply unit is installed on the inlet side and a transfer unit is installed on the outlet side, and the storage conveyor has a continuous or discontinuous flat conveying surface adapted to the conveyance of a flat object and has an endless receiving conveyor, conveying conveyor, respectively.
And a discharge conveyor, each of which can be independently driven forward and backward, and one or some of the conveyors can be rotated forward or backward to receive a flat object from the supply unit and discharged from the discharge conveyor. Then, the transfer between each of the conveyors is performed, and the adjacent flat objects are placed on the conveyor without gaps or minimized, and the flat objects are placed continuously and transported. .

On the other hand, in the transfer of articles by a belt conveyor in a corrugated cardboard manufacturing plant or a distribution warehouse, two or more conveyors having different running directions are installed at connecting points in a cross shape, and the transfer direction is changed while the transfer direction is changed. An apparatus for delivery is disclosed in JP-A-5-132130.

A belt conveyor device for changing the conveying direction according to this publication, a so-called cross conveyor, comprises a plurality of short and wide running belt conveyors arranged in series at intervals in a feed direction to form a plurality of long and narrow payout belt conveyors. An elevating device which is arranged between the respective traveling belt conveyors in parallel so as to be orthogonal to the feed direction of the traveling belt conveyor, and raises and lowers the upper surface of the payout belt conveyor to positions higher and lower than the upper surface of the traveling belt conveyor. Consisting of

[0008]

The transfer method according to the above-mentioned first publication describes a method for efficiently storing and sending out an object to be conveyed to a storage conveyor. Describes a method of converting a corrugated cardboard sheet discharged from a corrugated cardboard manufacturing apparatus in an orthogonal direction and sending the cardboard sheet to a storage conveyor.

However, in any of the above-mentioned cases, there is no mention of how to transfer the conveyed object from the storage conveyor to the various processing apparatuses which are the next processes.

[0010] When a flat object such as a corrugated cardboard sheet is fed from a storage conveyer to various processing apparatuses, which are downstream processes, by a transfer method according to the above-mentioned first publication and is processed, a large number of parallel processes are performed. A path for sending the object to be conveyed from one of the provided storage conveyors to a processing device for the object to be conveyed, and a path for transmitting the object to be conveyed from another storage conveyor to another processing device for the object to be conveyed. The objects to be transferred may collide with each other or partially overlap with each other and may not be able to be transferred to each other.

Generally, forklifts and traversers are provided at the exits of many storage conveyors.
In order to efficiently transfer the conveyed objects from the storage conveyor to each processing apparatus, even if a conveyance direction changing belt conveyor apparatus according to the second publication is provided instead of these, the conveyed objects are immediately sent to the processing apparatuses. It is not always possible to resolve collisions on the route.

In order to prevent such collisions from occurring, it is necessary to control the transport of the objects to be transported from the plurality of conveyors in accordance with certain transport rules in relation to each processing apparatus. In this case, if a plurality of conveyors are arranged in a row of about two to three rows, the collision prevention control for preventing collision is not so complicated. However, for example, if the number of rows of
If the number of rows is equal to or more than 0, the combination of the type of the transferred object and the required conditions of the processing apparatus becomes extremely complicated, and the control cannot be performed beyond the limit in the method of simply performing the transfer control by the worker according to the place. .

Further, when the number of rows of the conveyor is increased as described above, the paths where the objects collide with each other are grouped together, and the groups may not collide at all. Therefore, in order to perform collision prevention control on a conveyor having a certain number of rows or more, first find a conveyor of each group that collides, and control the conveyed objects so that they do not collide with each other in the conveyance within each group. Is required.

Conventionally, however, a collision group is automatically determined with respect to the transfer between various processing apparatuses, which is the next process on the downstream side from such a conveyor, or an object to be transferred is prevented from colliding in each group. No attempt at collision prevention control has been made.

The present invention is directed to a conveyor and a cross conveyor for transporting or storing an object to be transported for a certain period of time in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional problems in the transportation between the conveyor and various processing apparatuses as the next process on the downstream side. It is determined whether the objects to be conveyed collide with each other on the conveyance path set by the request from various processing equipment on the downstream side with respect to the conveyor line of multiple rows combining It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a collision prevention control method and apparatus capable of improving the overall transfer efficiency by independently controlling the transfer for each group and completely controlling the transfer while preventing a collision.

[0016]

According to the present invention, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, a conveyor for conveying or storing a conveyed object for a predetermined time, and a conveyer connected to the conveyor in two directions for crossing the conveyed object. Or, a conveyor line consisting of a cross conveyor for reverse feeding or a conveyor line formed by connecting another conveyor to the other end of the cross conveyor is arranged in parallel in a plurality of rows so that the cross conveyors are adjacent to each other, and these are the same or different. A plurality of transport paths for transporting the transported object between the conveyors between the lines are set, and it is determined whether the transported object collides on the cross conveyor in the transport between the transport paths, and the collision is performed based on this determination. A group of routes and a route or group that does not belong to this group are discriminated, and transport control is performed independently for each discriminated group or route. Than it was anti-collision control method in the conveying path consists.

In this control method, it is preferable that the collision of the transported object on the cross conveyor is determined by the logical product of the transport paths passing through the cross conveyor.

As another solution, there is provided a conveyor line comprising a conveyor for transporting or storing an object to be transported or for a certain period of time, and a cross conveyor connected to the conveyor and transporting or transporting the object in two directions for crossing the object. For a conveyor device in which a plurality of conveyor lines are connected in parallel so that the cross conveyors are adjacent to each other and a conveyor line formed by connecting another conveyor to the other end of the cross conveyor, a driving circuit that drives a driving unit of each conveyor. A control circuit that sends a control signal to the circuit, and an input unit that sends an input signal to the control circuit, the control circuit includes: a transport path setting unit that sets a transport path based on an input signal from the input unit; A collision determination unit that determines a collision of the transported object on the cross conveyor in the transport along the transport path, and a group of collision paths based on the determination; Group and a collision group discriminating unit that discriminates a path or a group that does not belong to this group, a control unit that independently sends a control signal to a conveyor driving unit for each of these groups or paths, and an entrance / exit side of each cross conveyor. It is also possible to employ a control device for preventing collision in the transport path, which comprises a detector for detecting the feed of the transported object based on a signal from the provided detecting means.

[0019]

In the collision prevention control method according to the first aspect,
A cross conveyor is a conveyor that can take the transport path in any direction that crosses in a cross shape, and can change the transport direction to any of the four directions, similar to the conventional one. Then, a plurality of transport paths are arbitrarily set between any one of the conveyors as necessary. Therefore, if there is a transport route that uses the same location of the cross conveyor in a plurality of transport routes to be set, there is a possibility that the transported object may collide with the transport route during transport, so the cross conveyor between the set transport routes may be used. First, it is determined whether there is a collision between the conveyed objects.

It is determined whether or not there is a collision between the set transport paths.
Next, the route group is distinguished and determined. This is because the collision does not always occur in all of the set transport routes, and may collide within the group in the transport between the specific transport routes. Even if there are other groups on the transport path where a collision occurs, no collision occurs between these groups, and thus the drive control between the groups is independently controlled. Further, if there is a set transport path which is not related to the collision, the drive control is also performed independently. As a result, the transfer efficiency of the entire set transfer path is improved.

In the second invention, the collision on the transport path is determined using the logical product of the transport paths. If the set transport route is represented by a flag 1 and the route without the configuration is represented by 0, if a collision occurs between two transport routes, the value of the product is 1, and this value is represented by all transport routes. When the process is executed for the combination, the presence or absence of a collision can be checked.

A control device according to a third aspect of the present invention comprises a drive circuit for driving a drive unit of each conveyor, the control circuit, and input means for sending an input signal, and the control circuit implements the method of the first invention. A transport route setting unit that sets a transport route based on an input signal from an input unit, a collision determination unit that determines a transport route in which a collision occurs, a group of routes that collide based on the determination, and a route that does not belong to this group. Or a collision group determination unit that determines a group, and a control unit that controls transport independently for each of these groups or paths,
Detecting means for detecting the feed in each cross conveyor. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the collision and to independently transport the transported object for each group in which the collision occurs, and to surely and efficiently control the transport by confirming that the transport has been performed by the detecting unit. You can do it.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a transfer device according to an embodiment. In this embodiment, a corrugated sheet sent from a corrugator in a corrugated cardboard manufacturing plant is stored in a storage space for a certain period of time, and a downstream box forming machine X,
As an example, a transport path for appropriately transporting a corrugated cardboard sheet to a processing device such as Y or Z will be described, and a case where the transport method according to the present invention is applied will be described. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied not only to the case of manufacturing corrugated cardboard but also to any type of conveying device that performs the same type of conveying.

In a conventional storage space, a storage conveyor is generally provided in some cases. In this embodiment, a storage conveyor A (1 to 8), a cross conveyor B (1 'to 8'), and a temporary deposit / feed A conveyor device comprising conveyors C (9 to 16) is provided.

The cardboard sheet is stored in the transport device having such a configuration as follows. A corrugated sheet cut to a predetermined length by the corrugator R is stacked on the stacker S in a predetermined number of batches as one batch, and is sent out by the conveyor T for each batch and travels on the track V in a direction orthogonal to the track V. (Traverser), and the rail car U sends the cardboard sheet to any one of the conveyors 1 to 8 of the storage conveyor A. How to load the corrugated cardboard sheets on the storage conveyor A is not an object of the present invention, and therefore, a certain number of batches of corrugated cardboard sheets are piled up on any one of the storage conveyors A in the same order. Shall be.

The basic structure of the cross conveyor B is the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-132130, and the corrugated cardboard sheet sent out from either the storage conveyor A or the conveyor C for temporary deposit / feed is provided. Can be sent in either the same direction as the feed direction of the storage conveyor or in a direction orthogonal to the storage conveyor, and can be sent to either the temporary storage / feed conveyor C or the storage conveyor A. Although the cross conveyors B are shown separately for convenience in FIG. 1, they are actually provided close to each other, and when sending the corrugated cardboard sheet in the orthogonal direction, one of the adjacent cross conveyors B is used. Hand over the cardboard sheet between each other.

The storage conveyor A and the temporary storage / feed conveyor C are made of the same components, and have a large number of cylindrical rollers arranged in parallel as shown in the figure.
Although not shown, each roller is provided alternately with a motor roller having a motor built in every other and a simple free roller.

The conveyor C for temporary deposit / delivery is, for example, 9 for temporary deposit and 10 for a conveyor for the box making machine X. Therefore, for example, a corrugated cardboard sheet is generally sent from the storage conveyor 1 through the cross conveyors 1 ′, 2 ′, 3 ′, 4 ′ to the box making machine Y via the feed conveyor 12 and the sheet feeder STa. However, as a special example, for example, the storage conveyor 5 passes through the cross conveyor 5 ′, 4 ′, 3 ′, 2 ′, 1 ′, and is sent to the temporary deposit conveyor 9 for temporary deposit, or From the depositing conveyor 9, passing through the cross conveyors 1 ′, 2 ′, 3 ′, 4 ′, the feeding conveyor 1
2 and may be sent to the box making machine Y through the sheet feeder STa.

FIG. 2A is a schematic perspective view and FIG. 2B is a partial functional view of the cross conveyor B. FIG.
(B) is a partial perspective view of an arbitrary set of the cross conveyors B adjacent to each other. Reference numerals 21 and 22 denote rollers for feeding a corrugated cardboard sheet in the direction between adjacent cross conveyors B.
Numeral 2 is a simple free roller, and these rollers are supported by a vertical support plate 23.

Although not shown, a power supply line is individually connected to the roller 21 with a motor. The motor of the motor-equipped roller 21 can rotate forward and reverse, and can convey the cardboard sheet in any direction of the adjacent cross conveyor.

A plurality of belt conveyors 25 are provided in parallel with each other for feeding a corrugated cardboard sheet in a direction orthogonal to the roller conveyor including the plurality of rollers. The belt conveyor 25 is endlessly stretched between pulleys 26, 26, and is driven by rotating a rotation shaft of one pulley 26 by a motor 29 via a power transmission mechanism 28.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a tension adjusting pulley. The rotating shafts of the pulleys 26 are connected to each other by a connecting shaft 30, so that the plurality of belts 25 are synchronously rotated by the motor 29.

The belt conveyor 25 has a pulley 2
6 are supported by a U-shaped support frame 31, and each support frame 3
1 is installed on an elevating device called a power base 32, and the entire belt conveyor 25 is simultaneously lifted or lowered by the power base 32.

The power base 32 has a structure in which an air tube 34 is provided in a pair of vertically movable frames 33a and 33b. When compressed air is sent into the air tube 34, the upper surface stably rises. Two power bases 32 are provided on the left and right sides in one set of cross conveyors, each of which has a length extending over the entire belt conveyor 25.

Although compressed air is fed into the power base 32, its details are not shown. Further, a power supply line is naturally connected to the motorized roller of the cross conveyor B. PH ₁ ~PH ₄ in FIG. 2 is a photoelectric sensor to detect the passage and feed direction of the cardboard sheet.

The mechanical structure of the transfer apparatus of the embodiment has been outlined above. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a control apparatus for controlling the transfer. FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of a general control device using a sequencer. Actually, in this embodiment, for example, one sequencer 51 is provided so as to directly control four rows of a storage conveyor, a cross conveyor, and a temporary depositing / feeding conveyor.
In the control circuit 50, the sequencer 51 has a role of a host computer, and communicates with the sequencer 51 and each of the sequencers below the sequencer 52 as necessary to adjust operation timing and the like. Note that an external input signal is input to each sequencer.

Numeral 40 denotes a transport setting section for setting a transport route and a number of times of transport of which batch of corrugated cardboard sheets are requested by the processing apparatus from which conveyor of the storage conveyor A. Call. Terminals 41, 42,... Are provided in a number corresponding to the number of processing devices. Actually, a touch panel for inputting an input signal is provided.

The control circuit 50 includes the terminals 41, 4
When a signal of the transport path is input from 1 ', 42,..., The transport path is set based on the signal, and the order is set based on the logical operation so that the objects to be transported on the transport path do not collide with each other. In response to the control command, a control signal is sent to the drive units SOL and M to perform collision prevention control.

The drive section SOL is a drive section for opening and closing a solenoid valve in an air line for supplying compressed air from a pump to the power base 32 of the cross conveyor B.

The driving section M supplies power to the motor-equipped rollers 21 of the cross conveyor B, supplies power to the motor 29,
It is a drive unit for supplying power to the motorized roller of the storage conveyor A and supplying power to the motorized roller of the temporary storage / feed conveyor C.

The detection signal of the photoelectric sensor PH ₁ ~PH ₄ is sent to the control circuit 50, the passage of the cardboard sheet and the feeding direction of the detection is performed based on this.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the collision prevention control circuit described above.
The transport is performed while performing the collision prevention control as described below according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the overall outline of the collision prevention control. As shown, step S ₁
Transport configuration, S ₂ is the creation of the transport setting table, S ₃ is checked whether the collision route, S ₄ the creation of the collision table, S ₅ is determined collision group, S ₆ has made each of the processing of the transport control It is.

First, the transport setting S ₁ is referred to as a symbol for making the transport setting. The conveyer for sending out the conveyed object is referred to as FROM, and the conveyer for receiving the conveyed object is referred to as TO. For example, “FROM1 and TO10” Is input from the conveyor 1 to the conveyor 1
It means sending to 0. FIG. 4 shows a case where seven transport paths are provided as an example, and numbers,..., (14) are given to the respective transport paths. The above-described transport setting is performed in each terminal of the transport setting unit 40, and the setting data is stored and held in the set terminal until the transport of the route is completed. The data of the transport path set in this way is read into the memory of the sequencer corresponding to each terminal, and it is checked whether the setting is correct (not shown). This check is to check the overlap of the transport paths, the overlap of the settings of the FROM conveyor and the TO conveyor, and the like.

When the number of transfers on a specific transfer path reaches a predetermined number and the transfer is completed, a new transfer path and a new number of transfers are set.

[0046] In step S _2, the transport setting table as shown in FIG. 6 is created. A display for displaying the tables shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 9 may be added to the control circuit 50.
In FIG. 6, the transport path corresponding to FIG. 4 is indicated by FROM and TO numbers, and the flag 1 is placed at the cross conveyors 1 ′ to 8 ′ used in the corresponding transport.
Flag 0 is displayed at unused cross conveyors 1 'to 8' (blank represents 0). The flag of the cross conveyor indicates the cross conveyor that always passes through when each transport route is specified, for each transport route,
In addition, it has a meaning as preparation for creating the next collision table.

The above-described setting of the transport route in the internal program is performed and stored in ascending order of the transport route number I. The transport path number I is N which can be a FROM conveyor
o. The transport path number starts with the same number as any of the conveyors 1 to 16.

For example, the conveyor No. When the transport route is set as a FROM conveyor for other conveyor Nos. Since any of 1 to 15 can be a TO conveyor, there are 15 types of setting of the transport route. Other conveyor N
o. The same applies to the case where any one of 1 to 15 is used as the FROM conveyor. Therefore, the possibility of setting the transport route is 16 ×
15 = 240 patterns (generally n × (n
-1) street).

For this reason, by entering a FROM number corresponding to the transport path number I among the above possibilities, a group of transport paths starting with the same number as that number is selected, and further entering a TO conveyor number. Specifies a specific route in the selected transport route group.

By preliminarily storing information on which cross conveyor passes through all the transport routes in the middle of each route in the storage unit of the control circuit, a specific transport route can be designated to specify the specific transport route. The included cross conveyor can be withdrawn immediately. Therefore, when an indicator is attached to the control circuit 50, for example, as shown in FIG. When FROM1 and TO10 are designated for No. 1, the cross conveyor 1 ',
2 'is immediately identified.

Next, although to a check of collision possibility in step S _3, the check setting table of the transport path of FIG. 6 is used. In FIG. 6, displaying the flag 1 on a specific one of the cross conveyors indicates that the set transport route passes through each of the cross conveyors on which the flag 1 is displayed. The presence or absence of collisions in the transport path to each other is checked in step S ₃ through a configuration flag of the thus displayed cross conveyor.

[0052] Checking whether a collision in step S ₃ in the conveying path each other is performed by calculating the logical product (AND) of the conveying path I and i. However, since the actual path overlap occurs on the cross conveyor, this logical product means the logical product between the cross conveyors.

Here, the transport routes I and i are used in the following sense. No. I can be a FROM conveyor. 1 is a transfer route number starting with the same number as one of the conveyors, and i is No. as I. 1 to
It is a path number other than the path designated by I from the 15 transport paths starting with the same number as any of the 16 conveyors.

The reason why the transport path is represented by the two symbols I and i is to check the possibility of collision on the cross conveyor by the logical product of I and i as described above. This is because, when the number is changed from 1 to 16 sequentially and incremented, the transport paths other than I combined with each I are represented by i, so that the combination of logical products can be easily understood.

FIG. 8 shows a combination of the logical product of I × i. For example, in the logical product for I = 1, any one of i = 2 to 16 is combined. However, each of the transport routes I and i may have 15 different set routes, but in any case, the route actually set is the specified route. In FIG. 8, I = 9-1.
The combination of logical products for the 6 transport routes is not shown.

When such a logical product is executed for the transport route set as shown in FIG. 6, the transport route numbers I and i
Is, for example, if I = 1, the other transport path numbers 2
16 is i, and for I = 2, i = 1, 3 to 16 are combined. Since the actual logical product I × i is the logical product of the cross conveyors, the logical product of the flags for the cross conveyor is calculated.

Specifically, the cross conveyors 1 ', 2',
For each of 3 '... 8', I = 1 and i = 2,3 ...
... logical product of 16; logical product of I = 2 and i = 1, 3 to 16;
Each logical product is calculated as a logical product of I = 3 and i = 1, 2, 4 to 16,..., And each cross conveyor 1 ′, 2 ′,.
If at least one of the logical products in the column of 8 'is logical = 1, it means that two paths in which the logical product = 1 have occurred collide with each other.

The above is described with respect to, for example, the transport route I = 1. Since only the cross conveyors 1 ′ and 2 ′ are used on the transport path I = 1, the flag 1 is set only on the two cross conveyors, and the logic of the other transport paths i = 2 to 16 is satisfied. When the products are respectively executed, only the cross conveyor 2 'in the transport path i = 2 is used in an overlapping manner with the cross conveyors 1' and 2 ', and therefore, as is clear from FIG. Only in the case of, the logical product of the vertical flags becomes 1. That is, the transport path I = 1 in the cross conveyor 2 ′
The object to be transported collides with the object to be transported when i = 2.

In the case of I = 2, there is a front-to-back relationship in the combination with i = 1, and it collides with the conveyed object in i = 1 on the cross conveyor 2 ′. The logical product becomes 1 above, and the object collides with the transferred object at i = 3. The combination of I = 3 and i = 2 has a front-to-back relationship with the combination of I = 2 and i = 3 described above.

For the transport route I = 5, the logical product with the other routes is 0 for any of the cross conveyors 1 'to 8'. Can be.

For the transport routes I = 6, 7, and 14, if the logical product is taken for a combination of any two of these routes, the cross conveyor 7 'is 1 in common, and the cross conveyor 6' , 8 ′ is 1 in some combinations. Therefore, the cross conveyors 6 ', 7', 8 '
In each case.

[0062] Creating a collision table in step S ₄ is performed. The collision table using the calculation in step S ₃ described above, the result is 0 Without collision in the cross-conveyor 1 is in Figure 7 showing that there is a collision table. As described above, it is possible to check whether or not there is a collision between the transport paths.

Next, the conveyance path of occurrence of collision is determined as described above in Step S ₅ is determined collision group is performed. As can be seen from the above description of an example of checking the presence or absence of collision, as the number of conveyors on which a transfer path can be set increases, a group in which a set transfer path has a collision and a path in which a set does not cause a collision or a set in which a collision does not occur. Other groups of the transport route may be set.

When a group of the transport path in which such a collision occurs and another path or another group in which the collision occurs, the group between these groups or between each group and the other path is mutually inconsistent with each other. Since there is no path to be generated, each of them can simultaneously carry the object to be carried.
However, within the group of paths in which a collision occurs, it is not possible to simultaneously transfer the transported object on each path.

Therefore, in order to perform such control,
First, a group in which a collision occurs and another route or another group must be determined from the transport setting table in FIG. 6 and the collision table in FIG. As a method to determine this,
The group discrimination table of FIG. 9 created based on FIGS. 6 and 7 is used. This chart shows that the transport path number I is sequentially incremented from 1 and the number of the transport path i associated with the number causes a collision. From the table, for example, I = 1 and i = 2, I = 2 and i = 1, I = 2 and i =
3, it can be seen that a collision occurs when the combination of I = 3 and i = 2.

For I = 5, all i are 0 and there is no collision path.

For I = 6, 7, and 14, I = 6 and i
= 7, and i = 14, I = 7 and i = 6 and i = 14, I
= 14 and i = 6 and i = 7 each cause a collision.

Therefore, it is possible to determine that two paths are taken out of the above-mentioned table and that the paths including the path in which the collision occurs form one group, and that the first, second, and third groups are defined as ( When represented by the symbols (a), (b), and (c), the graph shown in FIG. 10 is obtained (however, the non-collision route I = 5)
Are also expressed as (b) groups for convenience).

[0069] Thus, the groups and other routes or other groups of occurrence of collision of occurrence of collision is determined, to output a group or other routes, or other control signals in each group occurs collision at step S _6. However, if a conveyed object is conveyed in each group at the same time, a collision occurs,
Within each group, the transported objects are sent out in the order in which the transport routes are searched.

For example, in (a) group, the transport route NO. 1
And No. 2 and No. A collision occurs with the transport route No. 3 in the group (b). No collision occurs at 5
(C) In the group, the transport route NO. Since collisions occur at 6, 7, and 14, control signals are sent from any of the sequencers of the control circuit 50 that controls these three groups to the drive motors and solenoids of the respective transport paths. Therefore, (a) group, (b) group,
(C) Group transportation starts at the same time. However, (a)
NO. 1 and 2 and 3; (c) N in group
O. 6, 7, and 14 are sequentially conveyed while grasping the use state of the conveyance path according to the order.

The above-described embodiment is an example in which a plurality of rows of conveyor lines including a storage conveyor A, a cross conveyor B, and another conveyor C are provided so that the cross conveyors B are adjacent to each other. As shown, an example in which a plurality of rows of a conveyor line including a storage conveyor A and a cross conveyor B are similarly provided may be employed. In the case of setting the transfer route according to FIG.
o. 1 and No. 4 and the transport route No. 5 and No. 5 This is an example in which there is another group in which a collision occurs due to No. 6, and a check method for preventing a collision of a conveyed object on a set route, and a transport control based on the determination are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. It will be clear that what is possible is possible without a detailed description.

[0072]

As described above in detail, in the collision prevention control method according to the first invention of this application, a desired transport route is set between any of the conveyors via a cross conveyor, and these routes are set. Judgment of collisions in the transport between each other is made, and for groups of routes where collisions occur, transport control of each group is independently performed for each group, so that each transported object does not collide with each other for each group. It can be sent in a dispersed manner, and a large amount of transported objects can be transported to a specific one without squeezing.

In the second invention, the collision in the transport route is determined by the logical product of the routes.
Even when a large number of transport paths are set in an overlapping manner, collisions on those paths can be determined very easily and quickly.

In the third invention, the control device is configured to control the drive unit via the drive circuit in accordance with the input signal from the input means by the control circuit for controlling the conveyor line, and the control circuit sets the transport path. A transfer route setting unit,
A collision judging unit for judging a collision, a collision group judging unit for judging a group of a route causing a collision and another route or a group, a control unit for independently sending a control signal to a driving unit for each collision group, and Since it has a detection unit that detects the feed of the object, the first control method can be reliably implemented,
Various advantages are obtained in that the control device can be realized at a very reasonable and economical cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a transfer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a cross conveyor.

FIG. 3 is an overall schematic block diagram of a transport control device.

FIG. 4 is a simplified layout diagram of a conveyor.

FIG. 5 is an overall flowchart of transport control.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a table of a transfer setting table;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a table of a collision table;

FIG. 8 illustrates a combination of logical products.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for determining a collision group;

FIG. 10 is a chart showing collision group distinction;

FIG. 11 is a simplified layout diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Conveyor 20 Cross conveyor 30 Conveyor 40 Terminal 50 Control circuit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kazutoshi Higuchi 2-5-1, Shin-Yokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi Inside Yamatake Engineering Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-124721 (JP, A) JP-A-5 −132130 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conveyor line comprising a conveyor for transporting or transporting an object to be transported or storing for a certain period of time and a cross conveyor which is connected to the conveyor and transports or reversely transports the object in two directions for crossing the object or the cross conveyor. A plurality of conveyor paths are arranged in parallel so that cross conveyors are adjacent to each other so that the cross conveyors are adjacent to each other, and a plurality of transport paths for transporting a conveyed object between these same or different line conveyors. Is set, and it is determined whether or not the transported object collides on the cross conveyor in the transfer between these transfer routes, and based on this determination, the group of the colliding route and the route or group that does not belong to this group are determined. A collision prevention control method on a transport path, wherein transport control is performed independently for each group or path determined. 2. The collision on the transport path according to claim 1, wherein the collision of the transported object on the cross conveyor is determined by a logical product of the transport paths passing through the cross conveyor. Prevention control method. 3. A conveyor line comprising a conveyor for transporting or transporting an object to be transported or storing for a certain period of time and a cross conveyor connected to the conveyor and transporting or reversely transporting the object in two directions for crossing the object or the cross conveyor. For a conveyor device in which a plurality of rows are arranged in parallel so that the cross conveyors are adjacent to each other and a conveyor line formed by connecting another conveyor to the other end, a driving circuit for driving the driving unit of each of the conveyors, A control circuit that sends a control signal; and an input unit that sends an input signal to the control circuit. The control circuit includes a transfer path setting unit that sets a transfer path based on an input signal from the input unit, and a plurality of set transfer paths. A collision determination unit that determines a collision of a conveyed object on a cross conveyor in the conveyance, a group of paths that collide based on the determination, and a group of the collision path A collision group discriminating unit that discriminates a path or a group that does not belong to a group, a control unit that independently sends a control signal to a conveyor driving unit for each of these groups or paths, and a detection unit provided on the entrance / exit side of each cross conveyor. And a detecting unit for detecting the feed of the transported object based on a signal from the controller.