JPS60243706A - Travelling control method of carrier system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent carriers from mutual collision and to improve carrying efficiency by controlling the travelling of the carriers so that two carriers do not exist simultaneously between two adjacent stations. CONSTITUTION:A carrier system is constituted of a station 1, a station control part 2, a linear motor car controller 3 for controlling the travelling of a carrier 11, and a total system controller 4. The station 1 is constituted of a lift 13 for loading/unloading the carrier 11 while contacting with a carrying course 6, a stator 12 for the linear motor, etc. The carrier 11 is provided with a rotor plate 16 to travel through the station while receiving the action of said stator 12. Slits 17 are formed to detect the position and speed of the carrier 11. The position and speed of the carrier 11 are detected by an optional sensor of the station 1. In this case, the carrier 11 is started under the condition that two carriers do not exist between the stations in the travelling area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (a) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a linear motor car system, etc., in which a carrier having a rotor plate as a second conductor is moved by excitation of a stator on a track conveyance path provided with a plurality of stators. The present invention relates to transportation systems, and particularly to carrier transport management methods.

(b) Background of the technology and conventional technology The linear motor car as a transportation means does not require a power source to be mounted on the carrier, which is a moving body.

It has attracted attention in recent years because it is small and lightweight, making it particularly suitable for transporting documents, cash, etc. in offices.

A linear motor car is provided with a plurality of stators on a conveyance path, a rotor plate is provided on the carrier, and the carrier is transported along the conveyance path by a driving force temporarily induced in the rotor by the action of magnetic force generated by excitation of the stator.

The stator keeps the carrier speed at a predetermined value.

They are installed at intervals that allow them to reach the next station, but generally they are installed at each station where objects are loaded/taken out.

Therefore, the carrier being driven and transported at a station will either be transported to the next station without receiving any driving force, and then receive the driving force again at the first station to continue transporting, or the carrier will be driven by the stopping stator installed at the station. It can be stopped by energizing it.

Therefore, for the stator provided for each station,
By giving acceleration/deceleration commands from the controller, the carrier can be transported from a predetermined station to a target station. Further, by reversely exciting the stator, the carrier can be moved backward, and with the stator having a bending structure, the article can be transported by reciprocating the carrier on a single transport path.

As described above, in a transport system that transports carriers using discontinuous driving force on the transport path, it is not possible to stop or start the carriers between the stators, so there is a risk of collision if multiple carriers are transported at the same time. Therefore, in the past, it was common to perform transport processing on only one carrier for each use of the transport path. Therefore, the transport efficiency is poor, and as the scale of the system increases, there is a demand for improved transport efficiency.

(c) Object of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a new transport management system that enables simultaneous transport of a plurality of carriers and improves transport efficiency.

(d) Structure of the Invention The above object is to provide a means for starting a plurality of carriers traveling in the same direction with an interval of at least one stator interval or more, and a means for starting a plurality of carriers traveling in the same direction with an interval of at least one stator interval or more, and a first carrier being traveling reaches the first stator. and means for decelerating the first carrier by the second stator if the preceding second carrier has not reached the next second stator adjacent to the first stator, and According to the present invention, a plurality of carriers to be transported are transported while maintaining an interval of at least one stator interval or more. This is achieved by the transport management method of the transport system.

That is, according to the above configuration, when a failure occurs in the stator, which is a carrier drive device, the carriers can be stopped and collisions can be prevented, so that simultaneous feeding is possible.

The above relationship will be explained below using FIG.

In FIG. 1, A, B, and C are stations where a stator is located (hereinafter, the driving device will be referred to as a station as only the stator located at the station).

CI and C2 are carriers that send in the same direction.

Figure 1(a) shows a case where the carrier interval is greater than the station interval, and if a failure occurs at station 8, the destination station of carrier C2 is changed to station C even if the destination station of carrier C2 is station B.
1 is stopped at station B. Also station B
If a failure occurs in station C, carrier C2 will stop at station C and carrier C1 will be transferred to station A.
collision can be prevented by stopping the vehicle.

FIG. 1(b) shows a case where the carrier interval is less than the station interval, and carrier C1 is sent to station A.
If a failure occurs at station B and carrier C2 stops on the conveyance path of station B before carrier C2 reaches station B, carrier C1 cannot be stopped in front of stage GIN B, and station B There will be a collision.

As described above, by keeping the carrier spacing equal to or greater than the station spacing, collisions due to station failure can be prevented even when a plurality of carriers are fed simultaneously. Therefore, in the present invention, firstly, when starting a carrier, the position of the carrier preceding or following the carrier is determined and the carrier is started so as to maintain the above-mentioned interval, and secondly, the carrier being moved is monitored to ensure that it is normal. This is to perform feed control to maintain carrier spacing.

(e) Embodiments of the Invention Details of embodiments of the invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the linear motor car transport system, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the station, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the linear motor car transport system.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of the station control section.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of the linear motor car controller, and Figure 6 is a flow chart of the start control operation.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the feed control operation.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a station, 2 is a station control unit that controls the station, 3 is a linear motor car controller that controls each station control unit to control carrier transport, and 4 is a total controller that uses this conveyance system. - A system controller that supervises the system and instructs the linear motor car controller 3 to carry goods.

As shown in FIG. 3, the station 1 is in contact with the transport path 6 and includes a lift 139 for loading/unloading the carrier 11, a loading/unloading mechanism (not shown), and a linear lift for controlling acceleration/deceleration, stopping, and starting of the carrier. It is composed of the stator 12 of the motor, etc.

The carrier 11 in FIG. 3 is in a stopped state.

At this time, the carrier 15 passing through the station can pass through the stage gin. When the carrier 11 is to start, the station control section 2 lowers the carrier 11 onto the conveyance path using the lift 13 based on a start command from the linear motor car controller 3, and excites the stator 12 to start the carrier.

Conversely, when a carrier destined for the station arrives, the stopping stator of the stator 12 is energized and stopped, and the lift 13 is operated to raise and stop the carrier.

The stator of a linear motor consists of multiple pieces.

Under the control of the station control section 2, it is possible to perform acceleration/deceleration, forward/backward movement, stop, and start control of the carrier by excitation and reverse excitation, respectively.

The carrier has a rotor plate 16, and when passing through the stations, it is moved under the action of the stator 12. Further, the carrier has a slit 17 for detecting the position and speed of the carrier along the conveyance path 6, and this is detected by a light source and a light sensor (not shown) at the station.
The velocity and position of the carrier are detected based on the transit time of light passing through the slit.

The station control section 2 has the configuration shown in FIG.
a is a control unit like a microcomputer that controls each functional part by a program stored in the storage unit 2b;
2c is a command storage unit that receives a carrier transport control command from the linear motor car controller 3 and temporarily stores the command; 2d is a carrier speed that detects the speed and position of a passing carrier and temporarily stores the speed and position.・Position storage unit, ze is a communication control unit that communicates with the linear motor car controller 3, 2f reads the output of the speed/position sensor 2g composed of a light source and a light sensor, and stores the speed and position of the carrier. A speed/position detecting section 2h detects and calculates a speed, a stator control section 2h temporarily acts on the rotor of the carrier and controls the stator 2j that provides driving force, and a lift control section 2 attaches and detaches the arrived carrier from the conveyance path.

The station control section 2 having the above configuration performs acceleration/deceleration, stopping, starting control, etc. of the carrier according to instructions from the linear motor car controller 3.

The linear motor car controller 3 is connected to each station control unit, and instructs the station control unit to transport the carrier based on the transport command from the system controller 4, and also performs transport management such as monitoring the carriage and station. The configuration is shown in Fig. 5.

In FIG. 5, 3c is a carrier information storage unit that periodically communicates with each station control unit through the station communication control unit 3j to track, store, and update carrier information such as carrier position and whether or not articles are loaded. A self-storage section 3 stores the status of the station by the same means, and consists of a transfer command from the system controller 4 received through the system communication control section 3h, a starting station, a transit station, and a destination station. The command storage section 3F stores the sending area and records all the stations and records the scheduled passing time of the 9-started Ukeyaria and the actual passing time and passing speed by setting a flag after passing.□
・Carrier passage storage unit to be updated; 3g is a carrier transport pattern storage unit that stores carrier transport patterns starting from each station; 3 is a carrier transport pattern storage unit that controls the carrier to start based on commands from the system controller 4; This is a carrier transport control unit that performs tracking control of carriers that have been transferred. Each of the above-described functional units is controlled by the control unit 3a according to a program stored in the storage unit 3b.

The functions of each part of the system as described above, that is, the transport management system according to the present invention, that is, the start control and the transport control, are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
This will be explained using figures.

A) Start control Start control will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the linear motor car controller 3 that starts a carrier that has received a transport command under the condition that at least two carriers do not exist between stations in the transport area of the carrier when it starts.・It is a chart. This operation is repeatedly executed based on the transport command from the system controller 4 until the carrier completes starting.

b) Read the transport pattern starting from the starting station from the carrier transport pattern storage unit 3g, add it to the current time, and time t when passing station i in the transport area.
Compute a(i).

(i) The time tb (i+1) at which the preceding carrier passing through the sending area of the starting carrier passes the station i+1 which overlaps with the 9 starting carrier is stored in the carrier passing storage section 3f.

c) Compare the times ta (i) and tb (i+1) at which both carriers arrive at adjacent stations.

For stations in overlapping sending areas, tb (
If i+l)<ta (i), it is determined that two stations do not exist between the stations.

2) Time tc' (i-1
) at the time of arrival at the adjacent station ta(i)
and tc(i-1) to determine whether the above starting conditions are satisfied.

e) When the above conditions c) and 2) are simultaneously satisfied, the starting carrier is started.

f) If the above conditions are not met, the start will be canceled.

This will be implemented again starting from item (a).

Note that the code i above indicates an overlapping station, and the code i+l
is the station in front of station i in the feeding direction, i
-1 represents the rear station.

It is assumed that a small time t indicates a first-come-first-served basis. Furthermore, the above operation is performed based on the priority order of carriers waiting for departure, but for newly received commands.

The control unit 3a temporarily stores the command, and when executing the command, creates a transport area table prior to the above operation. (
(Figure 6) The above calculation also takes into account the time it takes for the starting carrier to descend on the lift. Also, since the presence or absence of a conveyed object is recorded, the feeding pattern can be corrected if necessary.

Next, control of the feeding amount of the carrier during feeding will be explained using FIG. 7. The operation shown in FIG. 7 is repeated for several milliseconds to several hundred milliseconds for each company.

g) Inquire of the station control unit and record the current position and passing speed of the carrier.

H) When the carrier passage storage unit 3f is searched and the carrier number of the station changes, the carrier is changed to the station M.
It is determined that the vehicle has entered the carrier, and the position of the preceding carrier is searched.

f) When the preceding carrier has not passed through the next stage N of the station M, the next station N performs deceleration processing for the carrier. In other cases, normal sending processing is performed.

n) The deceleration process is carried out as follows.

The linear motor car controller 3 gives a deceleration command to the station control section 2 of the next station. The station control unit 2 can immediately calculate the carrier's approach speed and withdrawal speed, and when a deceleration command is received from the linear motor car controller 3, it calculates the withdrawal speed and sets the stator reverse excitation time until the predetermined speed is reached. It is possible to control the deceleration of passing carriers. The deceleration command speed generally depends on the shape of the transport path and the length between stations.

Although different corrections are required depending on whether or not an article is loaded, the weight of the article, etc., for example, the speed at which the preceding carrier passed through the station and a speed lower than that are used.

The speed of the carrier does not change suddenly except for accidents such as derailment, and a simple setting such as 95% or 90% of the specified speed is sufficient, and this method is often used for speed control.

By the start control and transport control described above, it is possible to transport a plurality of transport carriers without the need for two carriers to exist between at least two adjacent stations.

Note that in FIG. 4, each of the storage units 20 to 2d is the storage unit 2b.
Each control unit 2h to 2 includes a control unit 2a.
can be included. Further, in FIG. 5, each storage section 3C to 3g can be included in the storage section 3b, and the carrier feeding control section 3 can be included in the control section 3a, that is, a microcomputer or the like. Note that the storage unit 3f~
When configuring 3g with ROM, record data compatible with the system in advance and install it.

(f) As described in the detailed description of the invention, in the transport management system according to the present invention, collisions between carriers can be prevented by managing transport so that two carriers do not exist at the same time between two adjacent stations; It becomes possible to transport multiple carriers simultaneously, improving transport efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a carrier feeding lock diagram explaining the present invention in detail, and FIG.
6 is a flow chart of the start control operation, and FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the transport control. 1...Station 2...Station control section 2d...Carrier speed position storage section 2f...Speed/position detection section 2h...Stator control section 3...Linear motor controller 3f...Carrier passage storage section 3g...Carrier feeding pattern storage unit 3k...Carrier feeding control unit 4...System controller 6...Transportation path agent Patent attorney Hiroshi Matsuoka Department 4th Department 1 m Shima-koro- A B c Borikazu Ki]- 8 42 illustrations 3 Figure 11 ) 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A transport system in which a plurality of stations each including a stator and a control section are provided along a transport path, and a controller sends control signals to the stations to transport carriers and transport articles. means for starting a plurality of carriers traveling in the same direction with an interval of at least one stator interval or more; If the next second stator adjacent to the first stator has not been reached, move the first carrier to the second stator.
1. A transport management method for a transport system, comprising means for decelerating by a stator, and transporting a plurality of carriers traveling in the same direction while maintaining an interval of at least 1 stator interval or more.