JPH03103004A - Capsule type linear travelling unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable highly efficient high speed traveling of a capsule by applying two elongated coils with a predetermined interval on the outer circumferential face of a pipe and connecting the ends of the elongated coils each other thereby forming a U-shaped electromagnet. CONSTITUTION:In an electromagnet having invertable polarity where coils are applied on the outer circumference of a pipe 2 over the entire length thereof, two notched and elongated coils 5 are applied with a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the pipe 2 and then the ends of one coil 5 is connected with the ends of the other coil 5 thus forming an U-shaped (horseshoe-shaped) coil end section. When the coil 5 is formed into U-shape, a strong single magnetic field is produced in the gap between two notched and elongated coils, and the magnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet 4 in the capsule 1. Since the capsule 1 is subjected to stronger magnetic force of the electromagnet, the capsule 1 can travel efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a linear capsule-type traveling device for efficiently transporting materials at high speed using a conduit.

[Conventional technology]

Capsule pipeline transportation systems that utilize pipelines made up of pipes have traditionally been attracting attention as a logistics system for transporting various materials such as parcels and garbage. This system transports goods to their destination by running capsules through pipelines laid between multiple points, such as between a distribution center and a distribution center.

As a conventional technology for such a capsule pipeline transportation system, a pneumatic capsule traveling system has already been developed. This system uses airflow from a large blower to move a capsule inside a pipe, and transports the materials loaded in the capsule to the destination together with the capsule.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional pneumatic capsule type traveling system has the following drawbacks.

■ Because the capsule is run at high speed inside the vibrator, the sealing material tends to wear out and the driving force of the capsule tends to drop.

■ In the curved portion of the pipe, the sealing performance of the capsule is likely to deteriorate, so the curvature of the pipe must be increased, which is disadvantageous in terms of pipeline design.

■ At the branch section of the vibrator, it is necessary to install a switching drive device with a complicated structure because it is necessary to maintain air pressure.

■ In order to move the capsule, air must flow at high speed over the entire length of the vibration line, resulting in a large pressure drop. Furthermore, when transporting over long distances, a booster is required, and a large blower is also required, requiring large-scale power and equipment.

■ Capsules cannot be fired continuously because a large pressure drop occurs when firing the capsule body.

■ When increasing the speed of the capsule, it is necessary to increase the flow speed above the set capsule speed, so the pressure loss increases as the square of the flow speed. Therefore, the speed of the capsule is 2
It is difficult to achieve a high speed of 0 to 30 m/see or higher.

■ Blower stations are required at both ends of the pipeline to return the capsules.

In this way, the conventional pneumatic capsule type transport system has the drawbacks mentioned above, so it is possible to transport goods at higher speeds.
Although there is a strong desire to develop a capsule pipeline transportation system that can transport materials efficiently and has lower construction costs such as equipment costs, such a system has not yet been proposed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a linear capsule-type traveling device that can efficiently transport materials at high speed and is inexpensive to construct.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention includes a pipe made of a non-magnetic material, a capsule made of a non-magnetic material that can freely run on the pipe C via wheels that contact the inner peripheral surface of the pipe, and a capsule made of a non-magnetic material that is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the capsule. a permanent magnet wound around the outer peripheral surface of the pipe at predetermined intervals over the entire length of the pipe;
It consists of an electromagnet whose polarity can be changed, a polarity conversion mechanism for changing the polarity of the electromagnet, and a sensor for detecting the position of the capsule, which is attached to each position of the electromagnet of the pipe, The electromagnet is formed by winding two elliptical coils in the circumferential direction of the pipe at a constant interval, and connecting the ends of the elliptical coils to form a U-shape. It is characterized by the following.

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A--A in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a capsule l having a circular cross section is inserted into a pipe 2 having a circular cross section.

The capsule l is made of non-magnetic material, for example aluminum or S
Consists of a US 3 0 4 capsule body. Permanent magnets 4 are annularly wound around the upstream and downstream ends of the capsule 1 in the circumferential direction of the capsule 1 . For air release,
The permanent magnets 4 may be arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. A plurality of wheels 3 (for example, about 10 wheels) are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the capsule 1 on the upstream and downstream sides of the capsule 1, respectively. The capsule 1 is freely movable within the pipe 2 via wheels 3 that are in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the pipe 2. Although not shown, the capsule 1 has a single-hinged opening/closing door with a lock, and a magnetically shielded inner capsule is mounted inside this door. This inner capsule can also be opened and closed, and cargo can be loaded inside.

The pipe 2 can be made of aluminum, SUS 304, or non-magnetic material such as FRP.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing one embodiment of the electromagnetic coil used in the present invention. An electromagnetic coil 5 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 2 in the circumferential direction of the pipe 2. The coil 5 has two notched elliptical coils wound around the circumferential direction of the pipe 2 at a constant interval, and the end of one notched elliptical coil and the other notched elliptical coil. By connecting the ends of the coil, the end of the notched elliptical coil is formed into a U-shape (hereinafter referred to as a "horseshoe shape"). Electromagnetic coils 5 are attached at predetermined intervals over the entire length of the vibrator 2. By arranging the electromagnetic coil 5 into a horseshoe shape, a strong single magnetic field appears in the gap between the two notched elliptical coils of the pipe 2, and the permanent magnet 4 of the capsule 1 It acts on FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment of the electromagnetic coil used in the present invention. Two horseshoe-shaped coils 5 shown in FIG. 3 are wound in parallel on the outer peripheral surface of the pipe 2. As shown in FIG. In this case, the ends of the U-shaped notched elliptical coils are positioned on the opposite side of the vibrator 2 as shown in FIG. 4 so that they are not adjacent to each other. In this way, by increasing the number of coils 5, a stronger magnetic field can be expressed.

Outside the pipe 2, an electric wire 6 for feeding power to the coil 5 from a power source (not shown) is installed in close proximity to the pipe 2 over the entire length of the pipe 2. A control box 7 is connected to the electric wire 6 at each position of each coil 5. The control box 7 constitutes a polarity conversion mechanism for reversing the current supplied to the coil 5 and changing the polarity of the electromagnet.

The control box 7 has a watertight structure and can be maintenance-free by using electronic components without moving parts.

A magnetic sensor is attached to the pipe 2 at each position of each coil 5. The magnetic sensor is a first sensor 8a for setting the polarity of the electromagnetic coil 5 to a polarity different from that of the permanent magnet 4.
, 8b, and a second sensor 8C for making the polarity of the electromagnetic coil 5 the same as that of the permanent magnet 4.

The second sensor 8C is attached to the middle position of the coil 5. On the other hand, the first sensor 8a is located a predetermined distance upstream from the second sensor 8c (on the left side in FIG. 1).
The first sensor 8b is located a predetermined distance downstream from the second sensor 8C (
Five of them are attached at separate positions on the right side (as shown in Figure 1). 9 is a control box 7 and a first sensor 8a. 8b and the second sensor 8c. Signal lines 9 of these sensors are connected to electrical switches such as cyrisks or power transistors in the control box 7. Further, the electric wire 6 is connected to the coil 5 through an electric switch such as a thyristor in a control box 7.

[Effect]

Next, the principle of running the capsule 1 will be explained. It is assumed that the capsule 1 travels from the left side to the right side as shown in FIG. When the permanent magnet 4 attached to the capsule 1 passes the first sensor 8a, the first sensor 8a detects this, and immediately thereafter, a current flows so that the electromagnet of the coil 5 has a polarity different from that of the permanent magnet 4. As a result, the permanent magnet 4 is attracted by the electromagnet of the coil 5, and the capsule l moves in the running direction (to the right in FIG. 1). Next, when the permanent magnet 4 passes the second sensor 8c, the second sensor 8c detects this, and immediately after that, the current flowing through the coil 5 is reversed, and the polarity of the electromagnet in the coil 5 is converted to the same polarity as the permanent magnet 4. do. As a result, the permanent magnet 4 and the electromagnet of the coil 5 repel each other, and the capsule l is pushed out in the traveling direction. this,
By sequentially repeating the process for each coil 5, the capsule 1 runs continuously in the running direction within the pipe 2.

On the other hand, when the capsule 1 moves in the opposite running direction (from the right side to the left side in FIG. 1), the first sensor 8b
is used, and the first sensor 8a is not used. Note that a section sensor (not shown) is provided for each predetermined section (50 to Loom), and no current flows through the electromagnet in the section where the capsule 1 does not pass.

The traveling speed of the capsule 1 can be controlled by controlling the frequency and current supplied to the coil 5. Also, depending on the driving situation such as when launching capsule 1,
Alternatively, the current can also be controlled according to the inclination angle of the pipe 2.

In this invention, only the wheels 3 of the capsule 1 come into contact with the inner circumferential surface of the vip 2, and no guide such as a rail is used, so the capsule 1 runs smoothly and its running speed can be made quite high. possible, and the failure rate is extremely low. [Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the following useful effects.

■ Since a horseshoe-shaped coil is used, the magnetic force of the electromagnet exerted on the capsule is stronger, allowing the capsule to travel more efficiently.

■ By using non-contact glue near mode,
The only part of contact between the pipe and capsule is the wheel, making it possible to achieve higher speeds.

■ It is efficient because the capsule is driven directly using electricity, and electricity can be easily supplied even over long distances, making it easy to transport long distances.

■ Since current is passed only to the section where the capsule is running, current consumption is low and economical.

■ It is easy to automate because it can detect the position of the capsule and control its speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing one embodiment of the electromagnet coil used in this invention. FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment. In the drawing, ! ...capsule, 2. pipe, 3. Wheels, 4. ．． Permanent magnet, 5. ．． Coil, 6...Electric wire, 7.4 Control box, 8a, 8b-first sensor, 8C/second sensor, 9-Signal line.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A pipe made of a non-magnetic material, a capsule made of a non-magnetic material that can freely travel within the pipe via wheels that contact the inner circumferential surface of the pipe, and an outer circumferential surface of the capsule. a permanent magnet attached to the pipe, an electromagnet whose polarity can be changed and which is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the pipe at predetermined intervals over the entire length of the pipe, and a polarity converter for changing the polarity of the electromagnet. and a sensor for detecting the position of the capsule, which is attached to each position of the electromagnet on the pipe, and the electromagnet connects two oval coils to each other in the circumferential direction of the pipe. A linear capsule type traveling device characterized in that the coils are wound at regular intervals and the ends of the oval coils are connected to each other to form a U-shape. 2. The sensor includes a first sensor installed upstream of the electromagnet for setting the polarity of the electromagnet to a different polarity from the permanent magnet, and a first sensor installed at the same position as the electromagnet for setting the polarity of the electromagnet to a different polarity from the permanent magnet. 2. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, further comprising a second sensor for making the polarity the same as that of the permanent magnet. 3. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, wherein one or more electromagnets are wound at predetermined intervals. 4. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the pipe is made of aluminum. 5. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the pipe is made of SUS304. 6. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the pipe is made of FRP. 7. The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, wherein the capsule is made of aluminum. 8 The capsule is S
The linear capsule type traveling device according to claim 1, which is made of US304.