JPH05124724A - Control method for traverser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the transporting efficiency of a converging traverser by controlling the time, in which a dolly travels from the standby position to the receipt position, to be substantially equal to the time from the time when an object fed on each receipt line being sensed to the time when it reaches the end of a handover line. CONSTITUTION:While no object is sensed by photo-electric sensors 7, 8, a dolly 1 is stopped in standby in an object handover position 2c. When an object fed on receipt lines 4, 5 reaches points Wc, Wd and is sensed by photo-electric sensors 9, 10, the dolly 1 starts moving toward either of the object receiving positions 2a, 2b where the object is sensed. Then control is made so that the time in which the dolly 1 from the standby position 2c reaches object handover positions 2a, 2b, is substantially equal to the time in which the object from the positions Wc, Wd reaches the point Wa, Wb. The object reaching the receipt lines 4, 5 can thus be at once handed over to the dolly 1 and converged.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of controlling a traverser provided at a confluence point where articles advancing through two receiving lines are merged into one sending line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an article conveying system, a traverser for merging articles is used in order to join the articles sent by two lines into one article. Such a traverser laterally reciprocates along the path between the ends of the two receiving lines, and the ends and ends of the two receiving lines are connected at the receiving positions at both ends of the path. A carriage for receiving the article at the end of the receiving line, and delivering the article by connecting the end and the other end of one delivery line at the delivery position substantially in the center of the route. When the article has not reached either end of the two receiving lines, the trolley stops and waits at the delivery position in the approximate center of the route to prevent the article from reaching either end. It was controlled to wait and move to the receiving position where the article arrived.

[0003]

As described above, when the carriage is moved only after the arrival of the goods,
The time required to move the carriage is added to the cycle time of the article transportation, which affects the transportation efficiency.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling a traverser in which the time required for the movement of the carriage is less likely to deteriorate the transport efficiency.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention reciprocates laterally along a path between two ends of two receiving lines, and the two lines are received at receiving positions at both ends of the path. Each end and one end of the receiving line are connected to receive the article at the end of the receiving line, and the end and the other end of one sending line are connected at the delivery position at the substantially center of the route. In a traverser for merging goods including a dolly for delivering goods, the delivery position is set as a standby position, the time required for the trolley to move from the standby position to the receiving position, and the articles sent through each receiving line are detected. It is detected that the articles have been sent by the article detection means arranged in the middle of each receiving line so that the time from the detection by the means to the end of each receiving line becomes substantially equal. And in the standby position To constitute a method of controlling the traverser so as to move the carriage from the standby position to the receiving position of the receiving line towards the article is sent.

[0006]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, the following operational effects are obtained.

According to the traverser control method of the present invention, when the dolly is in the standby position, that is, when the dolly is in the stand-by state rather than working, the article detecting means detects the article sent through each receiving line. Then, the cart starts moving from the standby position to the receiving position of the receiving line to which the article is sent. When the article detected by the article detecting means reaches the end of the receiving line, the truck reaches the receiving position from the standby position at substantially the same time.

Therefore, according to the traverser control method of the present invention, the carriage starts moving before the end of the receiving line, and the goods are placed on the carriage without delay after reaching the end of the receiving line. .. Therefore, the time for waiting for the arrival of the trolley at the end of the receiving line is saved, so that the cycle time can be reduced and efficient transportation can be realized.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a traverser to which an embodiment of a traverser control method according to the present invention is applied, two receiving lines and one sending line.

In FIG. 1, a traverser 1 comprises a trolley 2 on which an article W is placed and moves, and two rails 3 and 3 on which the trolley 2 travels. The ends of the receiving lines 4 and 5 are located on one side of both ends of the rails 3 and 3, and the starting end of the sending line 6 is located on the other side of the center of the rails 3 and 3. positioned.

The trolley 2 of the traverser 1 receives the articles W sent from the left side in FIG. 1 on the receiving lines 4 and 5 at the article receiving positions 2a and 2b at both ends of the rails 3 and 3, and the rail 3 is received. The article is moved to the article delivery position 2c at the center of 3, and the article is delivered to the delivery line 6 to be merged.

The control device (not shown) of the traverser 1 controls the articles Wa, which arrive at the ends of the receiving lines 4, 5.
In order to detect Wb respectively, signals are received from photoelectric sensors 7 and 8 which run along the optical axis across the ends of the receiving lines 4 and 5. Article W by photoelectric sensors 7 and 8
When the arrival of a or the article Wb is detected, the trolley 2 moves toward the arrival of the article 2a or 2b.
Work to receive the goods at the goods receiving position. Then, it moves to the article delivery position 2c, delivers the article to the delivery line 6, and moves it to the side where the article has arrived.

When the article has not arrived at either end of the receiving lines 4 and 5, the cart 2 finishes the article delivery work and waits at the article delivery position 2c.

From the ends of the receiving lines 4 and 5 to the left in FIG. 1,
That is, the other photoelectric sensors 9 and 10 connected to the control device of the traverser 1 are arranged upstream in the direction in which the articles flow. Photoelectric sensors 9 and 10 are reception lines 4 and 5
It is possible to detect the articles Wc and Wd that cross the optical axis and emit the optical axis, pass through the receiving lines 4 and 5 and block the optical axis. The photoelectric sensors 9 and 10 are provided at the article delivery position 2c (standby position).
Time required for the trolley 1 to move from the receiving position to the article receiving position, and the articles sent through the receiving lines 4 and 5 reach the ends of the receiving lines 4 and 5 after being detected by the photoelectric sensors 9 and 10. It is arranged so that the time until is almost equal.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

As described above, the carriage 1 includes the photoelectric sensors 7 and 8.
Therefore, when the article is not detected, the vehicle stops at the article delivery position 2c and stands by. When the articles conveyed on the receiving lines 4 and 5 reach Wc and Wd and are detected by the photoelectric sensors 9 and 10, the carriage 1 moves toward one of the article receiving positions 2a and 2b where the articles are detected. Start. Dolly 1
From the standby position 2c to the article receiving positions 2a and 2b, and from the position of the articles Wc and Wd to Wa and Wb
The time to reach is almost the same. Therefore, the articles that have reached the receiving lines 4 and 5 are immediately delivered to the carriage 1 and merged.

According to the traverser controlled by the method of this embodiment as described above, the article W reaching the traverser 1
Since a and Wb are placed on the trolley 2 without waiting for the trolley 2 to move, the movement time of the trolley 1 is excluded from the transport cycle time, and therefore the transport efficiency can be improved.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a traverser to which a method for controlling a traverser according to the present invention is applied, two receiving lines, and one sending line.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Traverser 2 Trucks 4 and 5 Receiving line 6 Sending line 9 and 10 Photoelectric sensor W Article

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A path between two ends of two receiving lines is reciprocated laterally in a lateral direction, and each end and one end of the two receiving lines are connected at receiving positions at both ends of the path. An article merging traverser that receives articles at the end of the receiving line, and at the delivery position at the approximate center of the route, connects the end of one delivery line and the other end to deliver the articles The position is the standby position, the time required for the dolly to move from the standby position to the receiving position, and the time from when the articles sent to each receiving line are detected by the article detecting means to reach the end of each receiving line. When it is detected that the article has been sent by the article detection means arranged in the middle of each receiving line so that the time is substantially equal to the time of, the cart at the standby position is sent from the standby position. Acceptance lie of person who came The traverser control method is characterized in that the traverser is moved to the reception position of the traffic.