JP2693170B2 - Transfer control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] A linear motor type transport system in which a secondary conductor is attached to a transport vehicle storing documents and the like, and the transport vehicle travels by receiving a magnetic field from primary iron cores distributed in a transport path. In order to provide a transfer control device that controls the transfer cars so that they do not collide with each other even if a power failure occurs during travel, a linear motor type transfer car is installed between each station on the track. In a transport control device for transporting, a first storage unit that stores an input travel command, a determination unit that determines a travel section / travel direction of a travel command stored in the first storage unit, and a travel A second storage unit that stores the traveling section and the traveling direction of the medium carrier, and a comparison unit that discriminates whether or not the traveling is in the mutually opposite directions from the output of the determination unit and the output of the second storage unit. And the comparison section And a traveling management unit that controls the execution of the traveling commanded by the traveling command based on the result. When the result of the comparison unit indicates that the traveling is not traveling in the mutually opposite direction, the traveling management unit is designated by the traveling command. It is configured to execute the traveling.

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is a linear motor type transport system in which a secondary conductor is attached to a transport vehicle storing documents and the like, and the transport vehicle is driven by receiving a magnetic field from primary iron cores distributed in a transport path. Of the transfer control device.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, high speed transportation processing has been performed at each business establishment such as a bank and a securities company by using a linear motor car of a secondary movable type for transportation of documents, slips, cash and the like.

When a power failure occurs in such a transport system, the transport vehicle cannot immediately stop, and thus a collision may occur when a plurality of transport vehicles are running, and it is desired to prevent this.

[Prior Art] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional station and carrier, and FIG.
The figure shows a conventional transfer system configuration diagram.

Referring to FIG. 3, 50 is a carrier (or carrier), 51 is a rail for guiding the carrier, 52 is a stator which is a stator of the linear motor, 53 is a secondary conductor which is a mover of the linear motor, and 54 is A pulse encoder composed of a comb-teeth-shaped light-shielding plate, 55 is a sensor composed of four a to d for detecting passage and interruption of light according to the irregularities of the comb teeth of the pulse encoder 54, and 56 is one of the four corners of the carrier. It represents a guide roller provided on the leg part and guiding the carrier along the rail 51 (a total of eight guide rollers (not shown) sandwiching the upper side of the rail by two upper and lower rollers), a pulse encoder 54 and a sensor.
55 constitutes a speed detecting device.

As is well known in the art, the transport vehicle 50 moves on the principle of a linear induction motor, and the secondary conductor 53 attached to the transport vehicle 50 is driven by exciting the stator 52, which is a fixed primary iron core provided in the station. The rail 51
A transport vehicle 50 travels along. In that case, various power sources are not provided in the transport vehicle 50, and various slips, documents, cash, etc. are stored and sent to the designated station, and then returned to the original home position.

An outline of the conventional transfer system shown in FIG. 4 is as follows: 61 is a system control device, 62 is a transfer control device, 63 is a rail that constitutes a track, and 64 is a primary core of a linear motor provided along the rail ( The stator is a stator (indicated by ST1 to 7), 65 is a carrier vehicle (indicated by CR1 and 2) having secondary conductors (movers), and 66 is a stator of a linear motor according to a command from the transfer control device 62. Station controller (represented by STC1 to STC7), and the system control device 61 and the transport control device 62 constitute a traveling control unit of the transport vehicle.

A home position is set for each carrier, and when a target station (for example, a cash accommodating person) is designated by a key (not shown) from that station (the position where the person who handles the window is present), the system controller 61 is entered. From the above, a command signal is given to the carrier control device 62, and from there, a command signal is given to the related ones of the respective station controllers 66 to control the carriage 65 to start, accelerate, decelerate and stop. Each station is equipped with detectors for the transport vehicle, speed detectors, etc., and those detection outputs are used for traveling control.When the target station is reached, the transport vehicle will return to its original home position by its handler. Specified, transported and returned.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-described conventional linear motor type transport system, if a power failure occurs in the transport vehicle while the vehicle is running, the running vehicle continues to run due to inertia. In preparation for such a case, a damper is attached to each end of the transport path to reduce the impact on the transport vehicle to prevent damage.

However, there is a risk of head-on collision if a power failure occurs while a plurality of transport vehicles are running on one rail in opposite directions. On the other hand, if the transport vehicle is made to have a structure that is durable enough to withstand a frontal collision, or if a cushioning member is attached, the size of the transport vehicle becomes large and its own weight becomes heavy. However, if the shape of the carrier vehicle becomes large, the shape of the entire carrier device becomes large, which is not preferable. Then, when the self-weight becomes heavy, the energy required for the conveyance increases, the power consumption increases, and the primary iron core becomes large, so that the conveying device becomes large.

Further, in the case of a head-on collision, there is a problem in that an article mounted on a transport vehicle may be damaged even if there is no abnormality in the transport vehicle due to the collision.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport control device that controls transport vehicles so that they do not collide head-on even when a power failure occurs during traveling.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a system control unit, 11 is a transfer control device, 12
-1 to 12-n are station controllers (STC1 to STCn
, (Indicated by ST1 to STn), 14-1 and 14-2 are transport vehicles (indicated by ST1 to STn), where stators, which are primary iron cores installed at predetermined intervals in the 13-1 to 13-n transport paths 15, are installed. CR1, C
(Displayed by R2), 15 represents a transport path, and in the transport control device 11, 111 is a first storage unit that stores a travel command, 112 is a transport path shape information table, and 113 is a travel section / direction during travel. Second storage unit, 114 is a traveling section determination unit, 115 is a comparison unit that identifies the traveling section / direction, 116 is a traveling management unit, and 117
Represents a traveling control unit.

In the present invention, when a travel command is issued, the travel content of the command is compared with the traveling state of another transporting vehicle that is traveling at that time, and when the travel according to the command is a travel that is opposite to another traveling transporting vehicle. The vehicle is controlled not to run, and to run otherwise in other cases.

[Operation] When the system controller 10 in FIG. 1 issues a travel command for traveling the carrier vehicle, the first storage unit 11 of the carrier controller 11 is generated.
Remember this with 1. When the information is set in the first storage unit 111, the traveling section / direction discriminating unit 114 discriminates the section / direction of the instructed traveling by referring to the transport path shape information table 112. Note that the transport path shape information table 112 indicates the shape of the entire transport path (straight, loop, horizontal, vertical, etc.).
The section of each transport path (sections are set for each predetermined distance in which a plurality of predetermined transport vehicles can simultaneously run) is stored.

Next, in the traveling section / direction comparing unit 115, the information on other guided vehicles that are traveling is retrieved from the second storage unit 113 that stores the traveling section / direction in which the vehicle is traveling, and the traveling section / direction determining unit 114 is executed.
Compare with the output from. In this comparison, the traveling section and the traveling direction are also compared. In this comparison, if it is identified by comparison that the traveling of the command is traveling facing another traveling vehicle, a signal permitting traveling is not output to the traveling management unit 116. Specifically, in FIG. 1, this is the case where a traveling command to the left for the transport vehicle CR2 is generated when the transport vehicle CR1 travels in the right direction.

In other cases, the travel management unit 116 generates a permission signal,
Specifically, in FIG. 1, it is when the carriages CR1 and CR2 are both in the same direction, and when traveling commands are issued in the directions away from each other.

In response to this output, the travel management unit 116 determines that the travel conditions are satisfied while the travel permission is displayed, and the travel control unit 117.
Generate driving instructions. The traveling control unit 117 receives the traveling instruction and the instruction output from the traveling instruction storage unit 111, generates a control signal for executing the traveling to each station controller STC, and causes the traveling to be performed.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2 (a) is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (b) is a control flow chart of the embodiment.

20-1 and 2-2 of FIG. 2 (a) are carrier vehicles CR1, CR2, 21-1 and 2-2.
1-n are stations (stators) ST1 to STn, 2 respectively
2-1 to 22-n are station controllers STC
1 to STCn, 23 is a transfer control device, 230 and 231 are interface circuits (IF), 232 is a central processing unit CPU, 233 is a memory, 2
Reference numeral 4 represents a system controller, and 25 represents a transport path.

In the configuration of FIG. 2 (a), the transfer control device 23 is controlled by the central processing unit CPU by program control,
When a traveling command is received from the system control device 24 and the state (presence or absence of a carrier vehicle, the traveling state of another carrier vehicle, etc.) is checked, and if the carrier is transportable, a control signal for transporting to each station controller STC (starting, Output (acceleration / deceleration, stop, etc.) to perform conveyance.

The station controller includes a processing device (microprocessor) inside, receives a control signal from the transfer control device 23, generates an output for controlling the stator, detects the state of the station, and outputs the output to the transfer control device 23. Perform processing. The memory 233 of the transport control device 23 stores traveling state information (including traveling section / direction information), but by receiving information based on a sensor each time a transport vehicle passes through each station, The content of the traveling section is updated.

A control flow chart of the embodiment of FIG. 2 (a) is shown in FIG. 2 (b).
Shown in

The operation of the transfer control device 23 of FIG. 2 (a) will be described with reference to FIG. 2 (b).

When a travel instruction is generated by the key input device of the station, it is input to the system control device 24 via the station controller and the transfer control device 23, and thereafter, the system control device 24 gives it to the transfer control device 23 as a travel command.
The travel command is stored in the memory 233 through the interface circuit 231.

Upon receipt of this travel command, the CPU 232 proceeds to the process of step 200 in FIG.
The direction is determined based on the transport path shape information in the memory 233.
When the determination is completed, the routine proceeds to step 210, where it is determined whether or not there is a traveling vehicle by referring to the traveling state information of the memory 233. If no traveling vehicle is detected at that time, the above step 200 is performed. After storing the traveling section / direction of the command determined in step 1 as traveling state information in the memory, the traveling control is started (240 in FIG. 2 (b)).

When the traveling vehicle is detected in step 210, the traveling section / direction of the traveling vehicle is read from the traveling state information in the memory 233.

Information on the traveling section / direction of the traveling vehicle and the traveling section / direction information by the command (determined in step 200) are obtained in step 230 by the two traveling vehicles (the traveling vehicle and the instructed vehicle). Determine if they are running opposite each other.
As a result, if it is determined that the vehicles are not facing each other,
Moving to step 240, as described above, the traveling section in the memory
After storing the direction, the traveling control is started.

When it is determined in step 230 that the two guided vehicles are traveling opposite to each other, the commanded traveling is not executed and the process returns to step 200 again.

In this case, the traveling of the other traveling traveling vehicle ends and the corresponding traveling data disappears from the traveling state information of the memory 233, whereby the traveling of the command can be executed.

[Effect of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to always prevent a frontal collision of a transport vehicle in a transport system that transports the transport vehicle between stations on a track by a linear motor method, regardless of a power failure. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (b) is a control flow diagram of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional station and a carrier, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional carrier system. In FIG. 1, 10: system control unit 11: transfer control device 12-1 to n: station controller STC1 to n 13-1 to n: station ST1 to STn 14-1, 2: transport vehicle CR1,2 15: transport Road 111: First storage unit 112: Conveyance road shape information table 113: Second storage unit 114: Travel section / direction determination unit 115: Comparison unit 116: Travel management unit 117: Travel control unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transport control device for transporting a transport vehicle between stations on a track by means of a linear motor, comprising: a first storage section for storing an input travel command; and a first storage section. Discriminating section for discriminating the traveling section / traveling direction of the traveling command stored in the second storage section, a second storage section for storing the traveling section / traveling direction of the traveling vehicle, and the output of the discriminating section and the second section. And a traveling management unit that controls the execution of the traveling instructed by the traveling command based on the result of the comparison unit, based on the output of the storage unit of FIG. The transport control device, wherein the travel management unit executes the travel specified by the travel command, when the result of the comparison unit indicates that the travels are not travels in mutually opposite directions.