JPH077064Y2 - Article identification system and write / read control unit - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an article identification system used for a tool of a machine tool, parts in a factory, management of products, a distribution system or the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in order to mechanize the tool management of machine tools and the identification of parts and products on the assembly and transfer line in factories, tools,
A system for identifying and managing various items such as parts and products is required. Therefore, as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-221950, a data carrier having a memory is provided for an object to be identified, and necessary information is written to such a memory by data transmission from the outside, and the information is read if necessary. An article identification system adapted to be put out has been proposed.

In such an identification system, a data carrier having data is attached to a pallet or the like on a carrier line, and a write / read control device for performing data transmission with the data carrier is fixed to the side of the transmission path. The writing / reading control device performs data transmission only when the pallet having the data carrier reaches the communication area. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the position, direction, etc. of the data carrier by the computer above the write / read control unit, and send the data transmission command when the communicable area is reached. When the position of such a data carrier cannot be identified, an auto command is provided to continuously send a command at a predetermined time until the data carrier reaches the communication area of the write / read control unit. In the auto command mode, the command to access the data carrier continues to be sent every predetermined period until the data carrier approaches, the data carrier reaches the communicable area, the command is received, and if the response is sent, the ID controller It receives the response from the data carrier, processes it, and sends the response to the auto-read or auto-line command to the host computer.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

In such a conventional identification system, it is necessary to identify the position of the data carrier by the host computer, and there is a drawback in that its control becomes complicated. In addition, in an article identification system that uses a microwave or the like having a wide communication area even when data is transmitted to and from a data carrier in the auto command mode, there is a high possibility that a plurality of data carriers enter the communicable area and interfere with each other. There was a flaw. Even if a sensor for detecting the passage of a pallet or the like is provided in order to identify the arrival of the data carrier held on the pallet or the like, the output of the sensor must be connected to the writing / reading control unit, which reduces the labor and There was a drawback that the man-hour increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the conventional article identification system, and it is a technical object to ensure that data transmission can be performed when a data carrier arrives.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a memory for holding data, a memory control means for controlling writing of data to the memory and reading of data, a command and data given from the outside and demodulated to the memory control means are read. Data having a data transmission means for transmitting data, a data carrier attached to an article to be identified, a read / write head arranged to face the data carrier, and an ID controller connected to the read / write head An article identification system comprising: a write / read control unit for transmitting data to a carrier and receiving the transmitted data, wherein the read / write head includes a sensor for identifying an article to which the data carrier is attached; Holds the command given from the ID controller and sends the command when an object is detected by the sensor. And a control unit for transmitting data to a data carrier for data transmission.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a memory for holding data, a memory control means for controlling writing of data to the memory and reading of data, a command and data given from the outside to be demodulated to the memory control means and read. Having a data transmission means for transmitting, and comprising a read / write head arranged facing a data carrier attached to an article to be identified, an ID controller connected to the read / write head, and transmitting data to the data carrier. A read / write control unit for receiving transmitted and transmitted data, wherein a read / write head holds a sensor for identifying an article to which a data carrier is attached and a command given from an ID controller, A control unit that sends a command to a data carrier to detect data when an article is detected; It is characterized by having.

[Action]

According to the present invention having such a feature, an article such as a pallet holding a data carrier is identified by a sensor provided in a read / write head of a write / read control unit. When a command is sent to the data carrier, the control unit of the read / write head temporarily holds the command, and when the sensor detects an article, the command is sent to perform data transmission.

[Effect of device]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the host computer does not need to recognize the position of the data carrier and can send a command to the read / write head via the ID controller. Since the read / write head detects the proximity of the data carrier and sends a command to start data transmission, it is not necessary to consider the timing of issuing the command, and frequent access such as auto-read is not necessary. Therefore, the possibility of interference is reduced and the frequency of error occurrence can be greatly reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a sensor for detecting an article holding the data carrier to the outside, it is possible to greatly simplify the mounting and wiring work.

[Explanation of Examples]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of an article identification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the article identification system shows pallets 10a, 10 holding the parts to be identified.
b ... is configured to be transported on the transport path 11,
Each pallet 10a, 10b ... has a data carrier 12a, 12b, respectively.
... can be directly attached. A read / write head (hereinafter referred to as RW head) 13 that writes and reads data at a position facing the data carrier 12, and an ID controller 14 that is connected to the RW head 13 and controls the operation thereof are provided.
The head 13 and the ID controller 14 form a write / read control unit. Further, the ID controller 14 is connected to the host computer 15.

The ID controller 14 and the RW head 13 are, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, a microprocessor (CPU) 21 that controls writing and reading of data to and from the data carrier 12.
And memory that holds the system program and data
22 is also provided, and an input / output interface 23 for performing input / output with the host computer 15 is provided. Further, the ID controller 14 is provided with a lower interface circuit 24 for performing input / output with the RW head 13.

The read / write head 13 has a control unit 25 connected to an ID controller as shown. The control unit 25 is a command holding unit 25a including a register that temporarily holds a command given by the ID controller 14 and a gate circuit that sends the command to the modulation circuit 26, and a gate circuit 25b that connects the lower interface circuit 24 and the demodulation circuit 27. have. The modulation circuit 26 modulates the command given from the command holding unit 25a and transmits it to the transmission / reception unit 28. Further, the reception signal obtained from the transmission / reception unit 28 is given to the control unit 25 via the demodulation circuit 27. Further, a sensor for detecting the pallet to which the data carrier is attached, for example, a photoelectric switch 29 is provided in the RW head 13, and the detection output thereof is given to the control unit 25. The control unit 25 sends the command held in the command holding unit 25a to the modulation circuit 26 based on the detection output of the photoelectric switch 29, opens the gate between the demodulation circuit 27 and the lower interface circuit 24, and transmits the signal. To do so.

Next, the structure of the data carrier 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a transmission / reception unit 31 receives and transmits a signal of a frequency emitted from the RW head 13, and its reception output is given to the demodulation circuit 32. Demodulation circuit
32 demodulates this signal and gives it to the control unit 33. Control unit
A memory 34, for example, a memory 34 composed of a static RAM backed up by a battery 35 or an E ² PROM, is connected to the 33 via a bus. The control unit 33 is a memory control unit that controls to write or read data according to the command and data given from the ID controller 14, and the read data is converted into a serial signal and transmitted / received via the modulation circuit 36. Given to 31. The transmitting / receiving unit 31 gives a signal to the RW head 13 side by changing the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit as in the conventional example. Here, the transmission / reception unit 31, the demodulation circuit 32, and the modulation circuit 3
Reference numeral 6 constitutes a data transmission means 3 for demodulating the command data given from the ID controller, giving it to the memory control means, and transmitting the read data.

By doing this, as shown in FIG.
If the command necessary for the next data carrier to be transmitted is sent through the controller, the command is temporarily held in the command holding unit 25a of the RW head 13. And the pallet with the data carrier is the photoelectric switch 29.
If detected by, the command is given to the transmitting / receiving unit 28 via the modulation circuit 26. Therefore, data transmission can be performed with the data carrier. Then, the signal transmitted from the data carrier is transmitted to the ID controller via the transmission / reception unit 28, the demodulation circuit 27 and the control unit 25. Therefore, it is not necessary to recognize the position of the data carrier on the host computer side, and the communication is performed without using the auto command that periodically generates the identification code for identifying whether the data carrier exists in the communication area. It can be carried out.

In this embodiment, the photoelectric switch is used to detect the pallet holding the data carrier, but it goes without saying that various other sensors such as a proximity switch can be used instead of the photoelectric switch. . It is also possible to configure the control unit of the read / write head using a CPU and memory to temporarily hold a given command and send the command based on an object detection signal from a sensor such as a photoelectric switch. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ID controller and a read / write head according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data carrier. . 10a, 10b …… pallet, 12a, 12b …… data carrier, 13
... Read / write head, 14 ... ID controller, 21 ...
… CPU, 25 …… control unit, 25a …… command holding unit, 26 ……
Modulation circuit, 27 ... Demodulation circuit, 28 ... Transceiver, 29 ... Photoelectric switch

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A memory for holding data, a memory control means for controlling writing of data to the memory and a reading of data, and a data which is demodulated and commanded from the outside and given to the memory control means. A data carrier attached to an article to be identified, a read / write head arranged to face the data carrier, and an ID controller connected to the read / write head. An article identification system comprising: a write / read control unit that transmits data to the data carrier and receives the transmitted data, wherein the read / write head identifies an article to which the data carrier is attached. To hold the sensor and the command given from the ID controller,
An article identification system, comprising: a control unit that sends a command to a data carrier to transmit data when an article is detected by the sensor. 2. A memory for holding data, a memory control means for controlling writing of data to the memory and reading of data, a command and data given from the outside to demodulate the data and the read data given to the memory control means. A read / write head having a data transmission means for transmitting, arranged to face a data carrier attached to an article to be identified, and an ID controller connected to the read / write head, wherein the data carrier A write / read control unit for transmitting data and receiving sent data, wherein the read / write head is configured to detect a sensor to identify an article to which the data carrier is attached, and a command given from the ID controller. Hold and
A writing / reading control unit comprising: a control unit that sends a command to a data carrier to transmit data when an article is detected by the sensor.