JPH07241097A - Mobile position registering method and conveying system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute positional registration of a mobile easily in a short time by counting the number of driving pulses for a step motor 'when the mobile is reset to an original point and registering it as a number of pulses required for moving the mobile from the original point to a target position. CONSTITUTION:Step motors 12x-12z are provided for respective axes and moving mechanisms in respective axial directions, coupled therewith, constitute a nozzle moving mechanism 30 for moving a nozzle chip 10. A pulse generating section 16 generates driving pulses for the motors 12x-12z based on a control signal and a pulse counting section 18 counts the driving pulses and registers a target position of the mobile. When the nozzle chip 10 is located at each original point, an original point sensor 26x-26z for each axis transmits it to a main control section 22. The step motors 12x-12z are then released from excited state and the mobile is moved to a target position being registered before the step motors are excited again thus moving the mobile easily and accurately to a target position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of registering a moving position of a moving body prior to the carrying in a carrying system for carrying a moving body using a stepping motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a system in which a moving body is automatically conveyed by using a stepping motor having a constant rotation angle per pulse, the moving position of the moving body is previously driven to the system side to drive the stepping motor. It must be set as the number of pulses.

Therefore, conventionally, as a method of registering the position of a moving body, a method of calculating the number of pulses input to a stepping motor has been known.

Specifically, the number of hypothetical pulses to be input to the stepping motor is calculated based on the moving distance of the moving body from the origin to the target position and the rotation amount per pulse of the stepping motor. Next, the obtained hypothetical pulse number is input to the stepping motor, it is confirmed whether or not the moving body actually reaches the target position, and if it reaches, this pulse number is registered. If it does not reach, the pulse number is changed and this operation is repeated until the moving body reaches the target position, and the optimum pulse number is registered.

As another position registration method, first, the moving body is placed at the origin and the stepping motor is excited,
A method has been used in which pulses are sequentially input to a stepping motor until the moving body reaches a target position from an origin, the pulses are counted, and registered in a transport system.

[0006]

However, in the position registration method using the calculated number of assumed pulses, it is difficult to accurately specify the moving distance of the moving body such as the nozzle tip from the origin to the target position. The calculated number of assumed pulses is not accurate and the moving body does not reach the target position when checking the operation. Therefore, several trials are required, and it takes time to determine the number of pulses.

[0007] For example, an automatic dispensing apparatus for dispensing using a nozzle tip is a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate type transport system, and the target position for moving the nozzle tip is a nozzle tip mounting / disposing position, a sample There are suction and discharge positions. These positions are large in number and are close to each other, and the moving position of the nozzle tip is in each axis (X axis, Y axis,
It is necessary to register accurately for each Z axis). Therefore, since the operation check of the movement of the nozzle tip in the above-mentioned automatic dispensing device and the like has to be performed for each stepping motor in each of the X, Y, and Z axis directions, it is necessary to further determine the number of pulses for each target position. It took time.

Further, in the method of counting the necessary pulses when moving the moving body such as the nozzle tip from the origin to the target position, in the initial state, the transport system completely recognizes where the target position of the moving body is. Therefore, in order to accurately reach the target position, it is necessary to install a sensor for detecting the mobile unit at each target position. In the case where the sensor is not used, it is necessary for the operator to monitor and adjust the position of the moving body until it reaches the target position, and many trials have to be performed as in the above method. In particular, in an automatic dispensing device or the like of the three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system, the work is complicated and time-consuming, and there is a problem in that the user of the automatic dispensing device or the like can freely register the position of the moving body.

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems, and provides a position registration method capable of executing position registration of a moving body very easily and in a short time, and a transport system using this method. The purpose is to

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method of registering the position of a moving body according to the present invention has the following features.

That is, a moving body that can move between an origin and an arbitrary target position, a stepping motor for moving the moving body, and pulse generating means for outputting a pulse for driving the stepping motor. And a pulse counting means for counting the pulses, wherein the moving body is moved to a target position in a state where the excitation of the stepping motor is off, and the moving body is a target. After reaching the position, the step of turning on the excitation of the stepping motor, the pulse generating means pulse-drives the stepping motor to return the moving body to the origin, and the pulse generating means generates at the time of the return. The step of counting the generated pulses by the pulse counting means, and the number of pulses counted from the origin of the moving body. And having a step of registering as a number of pulses required to move to the location, the.

When the moving body is moved to the target position, the moving body can be manually moved.

The pulse count number is registered in the recording means.

The arrival of the moving body at the origin is detected by a sensor means.

The moving body is a nozzle tip of an automatic pipetting device.

Further, in the moving body transport system according to the present invention, the pulse generating means generates the pulse count number obtained by the moving body position registration method to bring the moving body to a target position. It is characterized by moving.

[0017]

According to the method of registering a position of a moving body according to the present invention, first, the stepping motor is turned off to release the excited state of the stepping motor, that is, the hold state of the rotor, and move the moving body to the target position to be registered. Then, the excitation of the stepping motor is turned on. Therefore,
Since the moving body can be easily and accurately moved to the target position and the position registration can be performed by the user of the transfer system, the applicable range of the transfer system is widened.

Then, after the moving body is moved to the target position in advance, when the moving body returns to the origin, the pulses input to the stepping motor are counted to move the pulse to the target position. Register as the required number of pulses.

Therefore, even if it is a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate type transportation system such as an automatic pipetting device, and the target position is changed, it is only necessary to sense the moving body at the origin.
The number of drive pulses required for driving the stepping motor of each axis can be determined by one return operation, and since position determination does not require trial and error, position registration can be performed in an extremely short time.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below by taking an automatic dispensing device as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an automatic dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the automatic dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The nozzle tip 10 for sucking / discharging various samples by a controller (not shown) is a nozzle moving mechanism 3
It is possible to move by 0. Nozzle moving mechanism 30
Is an X-axis stepping motor 12X, a Y-axis stepping motor 12Y, a Z-axis stepping motor 12Z, and an X connected to each motor by a wire or a gear.
The X-axis moving mechanism 30X is movable in the axial direction, the Y-axis moving mechanism 30Y is movable in the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis moving mechanism 30Z is movable in the Z-axis direction. With this nozzle moving mechanism 30, the nozzle tip 10 is moved to X.
It can be moved in the Y and Z axis directions.

The switch units 14X, 14Y, 14Z are switches for controlling ON / OFF of the X-axis stepping motor 12X, the Y-axis stepping motor 12Y, and the Z-axis stepping motor 12Z, respectively. , 14Y, 14Z may be individually controlled.

The pulse generator 16 is based on the stepping motor control signal from the stepping motor controller 20 and the stepping motors 12X, 12Y, 12Z for the respective axes.
A drive pulse for driving the pulse generator is generated and output.

Further, the pulse counter 18 is the pulse generator 1
6 is a means for counting the number of drive pulses output from 6.

The main control section 22 is a control means such as a computer for controlling the entire automatic dispensing apparatus, and has a memory 24 inside. Origin sensors 26X, 26Y, 26 provided one for each of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis
Z is a sensor including an optical sensor, a mechanical sensor, and the like, and when the nozzle tip 10 is located at each origin of the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis, the Z is sensed and transmitted to the main control unit 22.

Next, the method for registering the moving position of the nozzle tip of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the operator (including the user of the automatic dispensing device) operates the switch portions 14X, 14Y, 14Z to operate the stepping motors 12X, 12Y, 12Z for the respective axes.
Is turned off (excitation state is turned off), that is, the hold state of the motor rotor is released (S1). As a result, the stepping motors 12X, 12Y, 12Z for each axis can freely rotate, and the operator manually operates the moving mechanism 30 for each axis to move the nozzle 10 to the target position (S2).

After confirming that the nozzle tip 10 has been placed at the target position (S3), the switch parts 14X, 1
Stepping motor 1 for each axis by operating 4Y and 14Z
2X, 12Y, 12Z are turned on to be in an excited state (S
4). At this time, the rotor of the motor rotates to some extent, but the angle is extremely small and there is practically no problem.

Stepping motors 12X, 12 for each axis
After turning on Y and 12Z, the pulse generator 16 starts the output of the drive pulse (S5). Stepping motor 1 for each axis
The 2X, 12Y, and 12Z are rotated by a predetermined angle by the drive pulse, and the nozzle tip 10 starts returning to the origin (S6).

At the same time, when a drive pulse is output from the pulse generator 16, the pulse counter 18 starts counting the number of pulses (S7).

When the nozzle tip 10 reaches the origin, the origin sensors 26X, 26Y, and 26Z installed at the origin sense this (S8), and the movement of the nozzle tip 10 is stopped.
That is, the stepping motors 12X, 12Y, 12Z for each axis
Is output from the main control unit 22 to the stepping motor control unit 20, the drive pulse generation of the pulse generation unit 16 is stopped, and the movement of the nozzle tip 10 is stopped (S9).

Then, during the period in which the nozzle tip 10 is returning from the target position to the origin, the count number of the drive pulses counted by the pulse counting section 18 is the main control section 22.
And is recorded in the memory 24 as position information of the nozzle tip 10 (S10).

The above operation is performed for all target positions that need to be registered, for example, the nozzle mounting / disposing position, the sample suction / discharge position, and the position registration of the nozzle tip 10 is completed.

In the automatic dispensing apparatus according to this embodiment, for the rack 32 of FIG. 2 in which the nozzle tip 10 sucks or discharges the sample, at least the start position 34s of the sample sucking or discharging positions, End position 3
Although two target positions such as 4e have been registered, the number of positions to be registered is not limited to this.

The memory 2 is used for dispensing by the automatic dispensing device.
4 stepping motors 12X, 12Y, 12Z for each axis
Corresponding to the drive pulse of the count number recorded in the memory 24 of FIG. 1 as the position information of the nozzle tip 10, the pulse generator 16 outputs the stepping motors 12X, 1 for each axis.
It is output to 2Y and 12Z. Then, corresponding to this, the moving mechanisms 30X, 30Y, 30Z of the respective axes are connected to the nozzle tip
0 is moved to the target position, and automatic dispensing is performed at the target position.

As in the rack 32 shown in FIG. 2, if the positions of the samples arranged in the rack 32 are constant, it is necessary to register in advance the moving position of the nozzle tip 10 as the sample suction or discharge start position. 34s and end position 3
As the two positions 4e, intermediate positions may be calculated by automatic calculation.

According to the nozzle tip position registration method described above, the nozzle tip need only be sensed at the origin and is not affected even if the target location of the nozzle tip changes, so the operator can arbitrarily select the target location. can do.

Therefore, for example, even when the type of the rack 32 shown in FIG. 2 is changed and the target position of the movement of the nozzle tip is changed, the user of the automatic pipetting apparatus may change the type of the rack 32 according to the type of the rack. It is possible to arbitrarily register the position of the nozzle tip.

Further, since the nozzle tip is first placed at the target position and then returned to the origin, even in the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate type automatic dispensing apparatus as shown in FIG. Since the number of drive pulses required for the axis stepping motor can be counted, the position of the nozzle tip can be accurately registered in an extremely short time.

It is not necessary to specially provide an expensive encoder, a sensor for knowing each target position, or the like.

[0042]

As described above, according to the method of registering the position of a moving body and the transport system using this method according to the present invention, the stepping motor is turned off to activate the stepping motor, that is, the rotor. The hold state is released, the moving body is moved to the target position to be registered, and then the excitation of the stepping motor is turned on. Therefore,
The moving body can be easily and accurately moved to the target position, and the position registration can be performed by the user of the transfer system, so that the applicable range of the transfer system is widened.

In addition, after the moving body is moved to the target position in advance, when the moving body returns to the origin, the number of pulses input to the stepping motor is counted to move the pulse to the target position. Register as the required number of pulses. Therefore, even in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system transport system, the number of drive pulses required to drive the stepping motor for each axis can be determined by a single return operation, and thus position registration can be performed in an extremely short time. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an automatic dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an automatic dispensing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow chart of position registration of a nozzle tip according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 10 nozzle tip 12X X-axis stepping motor 12Y Y-axis stepping motor 12Z Z-axis stepping motor 14X, 14Y, 14Z switch section 16 pulse generating section 18 pulse counting section 20 stepping motor control section 22 main control section 24 memory 26X , 26Y, 26Z Origin sensor

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A moving body capable of moving between an origin and an arbitrary target position, a stepping motor for moving the moving body, and pulse generating means for outputting a pulse for driving the stepping motor. A step of moving the moving body to a target position in a state where the excitation of the stepping motor is off, and a pulse counting means for counting the pulses. After reaching the position, the step of turning on the excitation of the stepping motor, the pulse generating means pulse-drives the stepping motor to return the moving body to the origin, and the pulse generating means generates at the time of the return. The step of counting the number of the generated pulses by the pulse counting means; Location registration method for a mobile body, characterized by and a step of registering as a number of pulses required to move up. 2. When moving the moving body to a target position,
2. The position registration method for a mobile unit according to claim 1, wherein the mobile unit is placed in a state where it can be manually moved. 3. The method for registering the position of a moving body according to claim 1, wherein the pulse count number is registered in a recording unit. 4. The method for registering a position of a moving body according to claim 1, wherein arrival of the moving body at the origin is detected by a sensor means. 5. The method for registering the position of a moving body according to claim 1, wherein the moving body is a nozzle tip of an automatic pipetting device. 6. The moving body is generated by causing the pulse generating means to generate a count number of the pulse obtained by the method of registering the position of the moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A transport system for a moving body, which is characterized by moving a robot to a target position.