JPH0542688B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle, which allows automatic guided vehicle tact operation on a work line in place of a conveyor-type production system.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a production system using continuous operation of a conveyor has been widely used in the manufacturing industry, and in order to level out production, especially on a line that is mainly done by hand, the pacemaker property of the conveyor line has been emphasized. This type of conveyor system has a conveyor length that spans multiple processes on a work line, and the line speed is determined depending on the difficulty of the process.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, conventional conveyor systems require large-scale equipment, and floor-mounted conveyors in particular obstruct work passages, which is a major hindrance to the effective supply of parts to work lines and the allocation and division of workers. . In addition, when changing the factory layout to improve productivity or switch to new products, it is not easy to move, modify, or change the conveyor system, and due to cost issues and constraints on the changeover period, it is unavoidable to mainly use existing conveyors. The current situation is that the layout has been changed and the route has been changed on a small scale. Furthermore, regarding productivity, each process in a work line requires a large or small number of man-hours depending on the work content, so it is important to assign more people to processes that require particularly large numbers of man-hours.
Considerations have to be made to lengthen the process. This results in decreased work efficiency and increased work fatigue due to decreased space efficiency and increased walking distance.

The present invention has focused on the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has a pacemaker function equivalent to that of a conveyor to level out production, while also having flexibility to change the layout and the size of man-hours, and improve space efficiency and work efficiency. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle that can improve the performance of automated guided vehicles.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle according to the present invention is a method for controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle that performs electromagnetic guidance travel, in which a traveling guide line is laid on a floor surface including a work line, and A start/stop command guide wire that emits an electromagnetic field different from that of the traveling guide wire is laid on the work line, and each process position of the work line is A mark plate for stop position detection that determines a stop position corresponding to the process position and a controller that can arbitrarily memorize the working time at each process position are provided, and the mark plate is detected by a pick-up coil provided on the automatic guided vehicle. Upon detection and the elapse of each work time stored in advance in the controller, the start/stop command guide wire is energized and deactivated to instruct the automatic guided vehicle to start and stop and perform work on the automatic guided vehicle. The line was configured to perform intermittent tact operation for a fixed period of time.

[Effect]

When the pick-up coil provided on the automatic guided vehicle detects the stop position detection mark plate, the power to the start/stop command guide wire is turned off (or turned on).
As a result, the transmission of the electromagnetic field of the start/stop command guide wire is stopped, and the automatic guided vehicle is instructed to stop at a predetermined position determined by the mark plate at a certain process position on the work line. Ru. After such a stop, when the working time in the process, which is stored in advance in the controller, has elapsed, the start/stop command guide wire is energized (or cut off). As a result, the transmission of the electromagnetic field of the start/stop command guide wire is stopped, and the automatic guided vehicle is instructed to start, and the automatic guided vehicle heads to the next process position. The working time at each stop position can be arbitrarily stored and set in the controller.

〔Example〕

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the specific Example of the operation control method of the automatic guided vehicle based on this invention is described in detail with reference to drawings.

This example uses an electromagnetic induction method to create an automatic guided vehicle 1.
0, and as shown in FIG.
A traveling guide wire 14 is laid so as to pass through each line 12 and to circulate around the inside of the factory.
A high-frequency current of a certain frequency is caused to flow through the traveling guide wire 14 by an oscillation amplifier (not shown), and the automatic guided vehicle 10 detects the generated electromagnetic field to guide the traveling direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic guided vehicle 10 is equipped with a pair of left and right pick-up coils 16 for detecting the electromagnetic field emitted from the traveling guide wire 14, and the left and right pick-up coils 16 detected by the coils 16 are The steering device is driven using the electromotive force difference. In addition, the operation of the automatic guided vehicle 10 is controlled by a relative address system, and marks made of magnets are placed along the travel guide line 14 at points where control such as acceleration, deceleration, and stopping should be changed. A sensor 20 consisting of a proximity switch or the like for detecting the plate 18 is provided. As a result, the automatic guided vehicle 10
The mark plate 18 is detected by a sensor 20 according to the specified address, and the marking plate 18 is detected and moved, and guided to the specified work line 12.

Here, in each work line 12, as shown in FIG. 1, a start/stop command guide wire 22 that transmits an electromagnetic field different from the traveling guide wire 14 is laid along the line 12. There is. The start/stop command guide wire 22 is connected to a controller 24, and can be turned off and turned off by the controller 24 independently of the running guide wire 14. When energized, the running guide wire 22 is connected to the running guide wire 14 by an oscillation amplifier built in the controller. line 1
This is a configuration in which a different electromagnetic field is generated by flowing a high-frequency current with a frequency different from that of 4. On the other hand, a pick-up coil 26 is attached to the automatic guided vehicle 10 to detect the electromagnetic field of the start/stop command guide wire 22.
The drive source of the vehicle is turned on and off. Further, within the work line 12, there are a plurality of work stations N1 to N6 according to each work, and a mark plate 18 that determines the stop position of the automatic guided vehicle 10 corresponding to the position of each station N1 to N6.
is installed. A standby station N is provided at the entrance of the work line 12 in order to introduce the conveyance vehicles 10 into the line at regular intervals, and the start/stop command guide wire 22 is connected to the standby station N. It is separated into a corresponding standby guide line 22A and a start/stop dedicated guide line 22B corresponding to the work stations N1 to N6. Further, each of the work stations N1 to N6 can manually output a start command to the transport vehicle 10 to the controller 24. That is, the guide wire 22
Hold switch 2 temporarily stops the start of energization to
8 and its release switch 30 are provided, which are used when line workers are delayed in work or when trouble occurs during work.

Incidentally, a workpiece loading station 32 to the automatic guided vehicle 10 and a workpiece loading station 34 are installed on the traveling guide line 14 described above, and a workpiece loading station 34 transfers the processed workpiece to another process after passing through the work line 12.

Operation control performed by such a device configuration is performed as follows. A work line 12 where a workpiece to be processed is placed on the automatic guided vehicle 10 at a station 32 and transported by a control device (not shown)
is commanded, and the sensor 2 moves while detecting the running guide wire laid on the transport route.
0 is the target Mark plate 1 at the entrance of work line 12
It detects 8 and stops. At this point, automatic guided vehicle 1
0 is stopped at waiting station N.

The controller 24 for controlling the start and stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 on the work line 12 has a memory of the required work time at each work station N1 to N6, and each time the required work time is reached, the controller 24 controls the start and stop of the automatic guided vehicle 10 on the work line 12. The current is turned on and off according to the time memory so that the current is applied to the guide wire 22. When the starting/stopping guide wire 22 is energized, the pick-up coil 26 of the carrier vehicle 10 detects the generated electromagnetic field and is driven to travel from the standby station N to the work station N1, and the sensor 20 detects the generated electromagnetic field. The mark plate 18 corresponding to the mark plate 18 is detected and stopped, and at the same time, the power supply to the start/stop guide wire 22 is cut off. Another method is to start the transport vehicle 10 by energizing for only a certain period of time (pulse signal). This work station N1
The working time at station N2 is stored in the controller 24, and after this working time has elapsed, the controller 24 starts energizing the starting/stopping guide wire 22 again, causing the train to travel to the next station N2, and detecting the mark plate 18. to stop and start working again. In addition, if the work is not completed within the required time, the worker operates the hold switch 28, and after the work is completed, operates the release switch 30.
The start signal may be outputted at the same time when the required time for the station is reached, and if the time has not yet been reached, the start signal may be outputted after the required time has been reached. In this way, after finishing the work at the final work station N6, the corresponding mark plate 1 is
8 is detected and guided along the travel guide line 14 to travel to the workpiece unloading station 34. This flowchart is shown in FIG.

According to this method of controlling the operation of an automatic guided vehicle, each work station N
The takt time at 1 to N6, that is, the time t from the start of the previous station to just before the start of the next station (see Figure 5), can be set arbitrarily by storing the working time at each station in the controller. can be easily changed by changing the installation position of the mark plate 18. Furthermore, it becomes possible for the operator to stop each of the work stations N1 to N6 at will.

Note that a plurality of transport vehicles 10 can be operated on the work line 1 at the same time.
In the case where the transport vehicle is placed within the transport vehicle, guide wires that carry currents of different frequencies may be installed in parallel, and corresponding pickup coils may be provided on the transport vehicle for operation.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, by controlling the energization of the start/stop guide wires provided separately from the running guide wires, the working time at each process position is reduced for the automatic guided vehicle guided by these guide wires. By pre-memorizing this in the controller, you can set any takt time and run it, and the stop position can be easily adjusted by changing the mark plate, so while maintaining the same pacemaker properties as a conveyor system,
You can change the layout, improve space efficiency, and improve work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a detailed plan view of the work line section, Figure 2 is a layout of the entire factory, Figure 3 is a schematic side view of the automatic guided vehicle, Figure 4 is an operation control flowchart of the automatic guided vehicle, and Figure 5 is a diagram of the operation control flow of the automatic guided vehicle. FIG. 3 is a graph diagram showing operating conditions within a work line. 10...Automated guided vehicle, 12...Work line, 14...
Traveling guide wire, 16, 26...Pickup coil, 18...Mark plate, 20...Sensor, 22
...Guidance wire for start/stop command, 24...Controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a method for controlling the operation of an automated guided vehicle that performs electromagnetic guidance travel, a travel guide wire is laid on the floor including the work line, and an electromagnetic field different from that of the travel guide wire is emitted onto the work line. A stop position detection mark plate for determining a stop position corresponding to each process position on a work line and a stop position detection mark plate for determining a stop position corresponding to each process position of a work line for an automatic guided vehicle that runs while a command guide line is laid and the travel guide line is detected. A controller is provided which can arbitrarily memorize the working time in advance. The automatic guided vehicle is characterized in that it instructs the automatic guided vehicle to start and stop by turning on and off power to a stop command guide wire, thereby causing the automatic guided vehicle to perform intermittent tact operation for a fixed period of time on a work line. Operation control method.