JPH0360535A - Commodity identification system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily confirm the order of a circulating pallet by setting serial intrinsic numbers corresponding to tie arrangement of commodity in each memory to data carriers on a circulating conveyor line. CONSTITUTION:The memory of the data carrier is equipped with areas to hold the serial intrinsic numbers for respective data carriers. For example, data carriers 13-1 to 13-20 are equipped with the areas to respectively hold intrinsic numbers No1-No20. When operation is started, an ID controller 15 executes initial processing such as the clear of the work area and waits for a command from a host computer 16. Then, it is discriminated whether the command is a serial number check command, serial number check prohibition command or access command to the data carrier. Accordingly, even when work is executed based on the discrimination, the erroneous work is not executed to various works on the pallet and the reliability of a commodity conveyor system can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an identification system for tools used in machine tools, parts in factories, products used in product management, distribution systems, and the like.

[Conventional technology]

In order to mechanize the tool management of conventional machine tools and the identification of parts and products on assembly lines in factories, tools 9 are required.
A system is needed to identify and manage various items such as parts and products. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-221950, a memory unit having a memory is provided in the object to be identified, and necessary information is written into such memory by external data transmission, and the information is read as necessary. An article identification system has been proposed in which the article is displayed on the screen.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Now, such a data carrier is sometimes used in a conveyance line or the like provided so that a predetermined number of articles circulate. In such a conveyance line, the data carriers attached to the pallets flowing back circulate and arrive at the write/read control unit, but there is a drawback that the order cannot be easily recognized. Ta.

The present invention was made in view of the problems of the conventional article identification system, and it is possible to easily determine the order of returned pallets. The technical challenge is to make it possible to recognize the

[Means to solve the problem]

As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention comprises a memory 1 that holds data, a memory control means 2 that controls writing and reading of data to the memory, and a memory M that demodulates commands and data given from the outside. It has a data transmission means 3 for transmitting data given to and read out by the means, a data carrier 4 attached to each article to be identified, and a writing/reading means for transmitting data to the data carrier and receiving the transmitted data. An article identification system comprising a control unit 5, wherein the data carrier is provided for each of a plurality of articles arranged on a circulating conveyance line, and the memory stores a unique series of ID numbers corresponding to the arrangement of the articles. The write/read control unit includes an ID number reading means 6 provided along the cliff feed line to read the ID number of the data carrier, and a unique ID number of the data carrier read by the ID number reading means. The present invention is characterized in that it has a determining means 7 for determining whether the ID numbers are in a predetermined order.

[Effect]

According to the present invention having such features, data carriers on a circulating conveyance line each have a unique series of numbers set in their memory corresponding to the arrangement of articles, and write/write
The series of numbers is read by the ID number reading means of the read control unit.

The determining means then determines whether the numbers are in a predetermined order or not, thereby detecting an abnormality in the pallet or data carrier being conveyed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of an article identification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the article identification system has a predetermined number of barrels (for example, 20 barrels) on the annular conveyance line 11.
12-1 to 12-20 are flowing back in the direction of the arrow. Each pallet has data carriers 13-1 to 13-.
20 is attached.

Each data carrier has a memory area for storing predetermined data and an area for storing a unique identification number, as will be described later. A read/write head (hereinafter referred to as "FRW head") 14 and an R
An ID controller 15 is provided which is connected to the W head 14 and controls its operation. The RW head 14 and the ID controller 15 constitute a write/read control unit 6. Also, the ID controller 15 is connected to the host computer 1.
6.

Now, as shown in the block diagram in FIG. 3, the ID controller 15 includes a microprocessor (CPLI) 21 that controls writing and reading of data to and from the data carrier 13, and a memory 2 that holds the system program and data.
2 is provided, and an input/output interface 23 for input/output with the host computer 16 is also provided. CPU
21 provides data to be transmitted to the data carrier 13 to the RW head 14. Now, the RW head 14 is CPU2
1, and a transmitter 25 driven by the output thereof.

The transmitter 25 transmits data to the data carrier 13 by outputting an FSK modulated signal from a coil, for example.
It is something to send. Further, the received signal obtained from the data carrier 13 is given to the demodulation circuit 27 via the receiving section 26. The demodulation circuit 27 demodulates this signal and provides it to the CPU 21 of the ID controller 15.

Next, the configuration of the data carrier 13 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, a transmitting/receiving section 31 receives and transmits a frequency signal emitted from the RW head 14, and its received output is given to a demodulation circuit 32. The demodulation circuit 32 demodulates this signal and provides it to the control section 33. The control unit 33 is connected to a memory 34 via a bus, such as a batch! A memory 34 composed of static RAM and E"FROM back-amplified by the J-35 is connected. The control section 33 is connected to the ID controller 15.
The memory control means 2 controls writing or reading of data according to commands and data given from the memory control means 2, and the read data is converted into a serial signal and given to the transmitting/receiving section 31 via the modulation circuit 36. Transmitting/receiving section 3
For example, as in the conventional example, I provides a signal to the RW head (4) by varying the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit. Here, the transmitting/receiving section 31. The demodulation circuit 32 and the modulation circuit 36 constitute a data transmission means 3 that demodulates command data given from the ID unit and supplies it to the memory control means, and transmits the read data.

Now, in this embodiment, the data carrier memory 34 stores a series of numbers unique to each data carrier, for example, data carriers 13-1-13-20 are NO, 1-No, 2, respectively.
Assume that it has an area that holds a unique number of 0.

FIG. 5 is a memory map of the memory 22 of the ID controller 15. As shown in the figure, the memory 22 includes a receiving area for higher-level commands and an editing area for responses, as well as parameter memory for checking serial numbers, ie, serial number check flags, starting points, ending points, and increments.

An ID number area is provided which holds the current value, the ID number read from the data carrier. Also an area for access to data carriers and a work area.

There is a stack area etc.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the ID controller 15 starts operating, first in step 41 it performs initialization processing such as clearing the work area. The process then proceeds to step 42, where it waits for a command from the higher-level computer 16, and if a command is given, receives the command. The program then proceeds to steps 43 and 44 to parse the command and check for errors. If there is an error, the process advances to step 45 to process the error and return to step 42. If there is no error, it is determined in steps 46 to 48 whether the command is a serial number check command, serial number check prohibition, or access command to the data carrier. Determine. The serial number check command is for checking the serial number of each paref (12-1 to 12-20) conveyed on the conveying line 11. In this case, the parameter for checking is received from the host computer 16 and the serial number is checked. As shown in Figure 5, I
It is held in the memory 22 of the D controller 15. These parameters include, for example, the start and end points of the serial number, and the increment of the serial number.

It consists of the current value of serial numbers, etc. and step 5
Proceed to 0 and turn on the serial number check flag.

If it is a serial number check prohibition command, the process advances from step 47 to steps 51 and 52 to clear the serial number check parameters and turn off the serial number check flag. Then, the process proceeds to step 53, where a response of the processing result is sent to the host computer 16, and the process returns to step 42.

Now, in step 48, if the command is to access the data carrier, the process proceeds to step 54, where it is checked whether the data carrier can be accessed. The data carrier 13-l is connected to the read/write head 1 as shown in FIG.
If the data carrier is close to the number 4 and can be accessed, the process advances to step 55 and the number 10 of the data carrier is read. The process then proceeds to step 56 to check whether there is an error in the reading, and if there is no error, the process proceeds to step 57 to check whether the current value of the serial number check parameter matches the ID number obtained from the data carrier. Check. If they match, the current value plus the increment is set as the new current value (step 58), and the process proceeds to step 59, where it is checked whether the current value has become larger than the end point number. If it is larger, the starting point number is set as the current value data (step 60); if the current value is not larger than this, this process is skipped and the process goes to routine 61 to execute the data carrier access command. The process then proceeds to step 62 to check whether there is an error, and if there is no error, the process proceeds to step 53 where a response of the processing result is sent to the upper level and the process is terminated. If there is an error when checking the serial number in step 57, the process advances to step 63 and an error response when checking the serial number is sent to the host computer 16. If an error occurs during access to the data carrier in steps 56 and 62, the process proceeds to step 64, where a response corresponding to the error is sent, and the process returns to step 42. Here, the CPU 21 of the ID controller 15 has achieved the function of the ID number reading means 6 for reading the ID number of the data carrier in steps 55 and 56, and in step 5
7 achieves the function of the discriminating means 7 for discriminating whether the number is a series of numbers or not.

In this way, a specific number of pallets are installed on a circulating conveyance line, and by setting a unique number to the data carriers attached to each, the data carriers successively arrive at the read/write head position. The operating status and installation of the data carrier can be recognized. Therefore, even when machining is performed based on this, there is no possibility of erroneously machining different workpieces on the pallet, and the reliability of the article conveyance system can be improved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention having such characteristics, since the arrival of articles on the recirculation pallet is sequentially recognized by the write/read control unit, the write/read control unit may not be able to control the write/read if the data carrier is out of order or depending on the mounting position of the data carrier. If data cannot be transmitted to or from the unit, a sequence of numbers will not be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to immediately identify such an abnormal situation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention, Figure 2 is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention.
The figure shows the overall configuration of the article identification system, and Figure 3 shows the I
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the D controller, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the data carrier, FIG. 5 is a memory map of the ID controller, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing its operation. 1.34--Memory 2--Memory control means 3--Data transmission means 4.13-1 to 13-2
0...-Data carrier 5--Writing/reading control unit 6---rD number reading means? ---------Discrimination means 11-----One conveyance line 12-1 to 1220---Pallet 14---Read/write head 15--
------ ID controller 16-... Upper computer 21-... CPU 33-
...control section

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A memory that holds data, a memory control means that controls writing and reading of data to the memory, demodulating commands and data given from the outside, and transmitting the read data to the memory control means. An article identification system comprising: a data carrier that is attached to each article to be identified; and a write/read control unit that transmits data to the data carrier and receives the sent data. The data carrier is provided for each of a plurality of articles arranged on a circulating conveyance line, and the memory is set with a unique series of ID numbers corresponding to the arrangement of the articles; The loading/reading control unit includes ID number reading means provided along the conveyance line and reading ID numbers of the data carriers, and unique ID numbers of the data carriers read by the ID number reading means in a predetermined order. 1. An article identification system comprising: a determination means for determining whether or not a product is a product.