JPS6037607Y2 - Automatic combination/merging/waiting device for autopiloted vehicles - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] This invention automatically determines the merging order based on a certain standard at a complex merging point where multiple guidance lines merge, for autonomous vehicles that are guided by guide lines installed on the ground. This invention relates to an automatic combination, merging, and waiting device for automatically piloted vehicles that ensures merging without colliding with each other.

Normally, when this type of autopiloted vehicle automatically travels along a guide line, if it runs casually at a junction where multiple branch lines of the guide line merge into the main line of one guide line,
If two or more autopiloted vehicles arrive at the merging point at the same time, there is a risk of them colliding with each other or derailing, so it is necessary to determine the priority order for merging as a kind of traffic control at the merging point. will be done.

In order to meet the above requirements, the present invention controls this type of autopilot vehicle using a call signal corresponding to a branch line of a guide line on the ground side, and if there are multiple call signals, the order of the calls is stored. The object of the present invention is to prioritize the memorization based on a certain standard so that the automatically piloted vehicle automatically merges into the confluence of the branch line and the main line.

In this type of automatic call system, multiple calls are made at once from multiple call points corresponding to the branch lines of the guide line on each ground side, and it is impossible for the autopilot vehicle to call to each call point at the same time, so it is impossible to call any one of the call points. However, if a fixed priority is set on the ground side in this case, the response of the autopilot vehicle will always be biased, causing problems such as calls from points later in the priority order not getting their turn. will occur.

For this reason, a device is required that stores the call signals and sends the call commands to the autopilot vehicle according to the order in which they are stored, but if a full-fledged memory is used, the device will be large-scale, costly, and will take a long time to install. Therefore, in the present invention, it appears that the input order of the above-mentioned call signals is memorized and the output is output in that order.
The aim is to provide new meeting and waiting equipment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a loop antenna-shaped guide wire buried underground, which is well known in the art, and branch loop antennas 2 are branched into a plurality of branches as needed, for example, at a stop station.
a, 2b...2f, and the branch loop antenna 2
For example, the loop antennas 2 and 3 are composed of a main line loop antenna 3 that merges into one line at a confluence point, and each loop antenna 2, 3 has a guidance signal line connected to a guidance receiver and a position signal line connected to a position signal transmitter. The position signal line has standby signal transmission loop antennas 4a, 4b, . . . 4f before the confluence of each branch loop antenna 2
Further in front of the standby signal transmitting loop antenna 4, there are receiving loop antennas 5a, 5b for receiving the merge reservation signal, respectively.
. . 5f is provided, and one merging raw signal receiving loop antenna 6 is provided at one merging point.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an autopilot vehicle, which includes a detection coil 8 that detects a guidance signal on the guidance signal line and causes the autopilot vehicle 7 to travel automatically, and a position signal receiver that receives a position signal on the circumferential line for position signals, as is conventionally known. Coil 9 and manual push button 1 for transmitting operation
0, the above-described receiving coil 11 for the standby signal, the transmitting coil 12 for the merge reservation signal, and the transmitting coil 13 for the merge raw signal.

Reference numeral 14 denotes an automatic combination/merging/waiting control device that automatically controls the standby signal transmitting loop antenna 4, the merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna 5, and the merging raw signal receiving loop antenna 6, as shown in FIG. A plurality of merging reservation signal receiving circuits 15a, 15b... connected to reservation signal receiving loop antennas 5a, 5b...5f...
. . 15f, merging reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b, . . . 16f connected to the receiving circuit 15, respectively,
One priority determining device 17 and a display device 18 for displaying a merging reservation signal connected to the plurality of storage circuits 16, and standby signal transmitting loop antennas 4a, 4b in the plurality of branch line loop antennas 2. Input terminals are connected to the standby signal generators 19a, 19b, . On the other hand, the output terminals are connected to standby signal transmission loop antennas 4a and 4b corresponding to each standby signal generator 19 described above.
. . . A logic circuit 20 consisting of an AND gate connected to 4f, one combined raw signal receiving circuit 21 connected to the combined raw signal receiving loop antenna 6, and the output of the combined raw signal receiving circuit 21. Upon receiving the merge reservation cancellation signal, each of the merge reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b...1
It consists of a merging reservation cancellation signal generation circuit 22 that outputs to 6f,
The above-mentioned priority order determining device 17 is reset by the output of the upstream merging raw signal receiving circuit 21, while the above-mentioned merging reservation cancellation signal generating circuit 22 is reset by the output of the priority order determining device 17.

The logic circuit 20 ORs the output of the priority determination device 17 via the inverter and the combined raw signal receiving circuit 21, and ANDs the output of the OR with the standby signal generator 19 to create a standby signal generation loop. It may also be output to the antenna 4.

The priority order determining device 17 prioritizes the merging reservation signals coming from each merging reservation signal storage circuit 16 based on a certain criterion, and sequentially sends the corresponding call order setting signals to the logic circuit 20 according to the priority order. It is something to put out.

For example, as shown in FIG.
b... A plurality of open/close switches 23at23b... each operated in response to the output of the merging reservation signal of 16f.
...23f and the contact 24 corresponding to the switch 23
a, 24b...24f, and a solenoid rotary switch 25 that rotates in one direction W in one step at a time, and a plurality of relays 26ay 26b...26f connected to the switch 23. , a solenoid that outputs a rotation command signal to the solenoid rotary switch 25 one step at a time when each of the switches 23 is activated, and a rotation stop command signal to the solenoid rotary switch 25 when each of the solenoid switches 26 is activated. A rotary switch/drive circuit 27 and a confluence raw signal switch 28 that turns off and stops the rotation command signal output from the drive circuit 27 when the confluence raw signal receiving loop antenna 6 receives the confluence raw signal. configured.

With this configuration, the confluence raw signal switch 28 is turned OFF.
1, the solenoid rotary switch 25 is always stopped without rotating.

On the other hand, when the merging raw signal switch 28 is ONE, the merging reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b...
16f, the switch 23a is activated.
.

When any of 23b...23f turns ON,
The solenoid rotary switch 2 is activated by the rotation command signal output from the solenoid rotary switch drive circuit 27.
5 rotates one step at a time in one direction, and the contacts 24 at of the switches 23a, 23b, .
O of any relay 26a, 26b...26f operated by 24b...24f
At N, the rotation of the solenoid rotary switch 25 is stopped by a rotation stop command signal output from the solenoid rotary switch drive circuit 27.

Solenoid rotary switch 2 as output at the same time
After the call priority setting signal selected in step 5 is sent to the logic circuit 20, the corresponding switch 23 is turned off.

Furthermore, at this time or after this, the switch 23av23
b... When any one of 23f turns ON, the solenoid rotary switch 25 rotates in one direction one step at a time again as described above, and outputs the next selected call order setting signal. Become.

The priority order determining device 17 is configured by one-way rotation of a solenoid rotary switch 25 having a number of contacts corresponding to the plurality of merge reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b, . . . 16f described above. As shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of merge reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b, . . .
A ring with a number of bits corresponding to 16f.
A counter 31 may also be used.

That is, in the priority determination device 17 shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of merge reservation signal storage circuits 16a, 16b, .
. . . A plurality of input terminals 32 at 32 b .
One OR gate 33 that connects each terminal 32, a plurality of AND gates 34a, 34b=34f that connects each terminal 32 to its corresponding input terminal, and an input terminal of each AND gate 34. Each bit 3 corresponding to
The above-mentioned ring consisting of a multi-stage bit shift register connected to the output terminals of 1at31b...31f.
A counter 31, a clock pulse generator 35 for driving the counter 31, output terminals 36a, 36b...36f of the AND gate 34, and a second OR gate 37 connected to the output terminal 36. , an inverter 38 connected to the output terminal of the OR gate 37, an inverter 39 for inverting the combined raw signal received by the combined raw signal receiving loop antenna 6, and an output terminal of the OR gate 33 and each of the inverters 33 and 39. The output terminal and the clock pulse generator 35 are connected to the input terminal, while the output terminal is connected to the first ring counter 31.
When the inverter 39 receives the combined raw signal from the combined raw signal receiving loop antenna 6, the ring counter 31 is constantly driven because there is no output from the second AND gate 40. Although the inverter 39 is stopped without being
If the merging reservation signal is input to any of the input terminals 32 when the merging raw signal is not input to the inverter 39 and there is an output from the inverter 39,
Its inputs are an OR gate 33 and a second AND gate 40
is applied to the ring counter 31 via the AND gate 34, and the ring counter 31 scans each step to find the corresponding call sequence setting signal and executes the AND gate 34.
After outputting it as an output, the second AND gate 40 is closed to stop driving the ring counter 31, and if a merging reservation signal is input to any of the input terminals 32 at this time or later, the ring counter is activated again as described above. 3
1 is driven to output the selected next call order setting signal.

Next, the operation of the automatic combination/merging/waiting device for an autopilot vehicle constructed as described above will be explained.

Now, the autopilot vehicle 5 automatically travels along the branch line loop antenna 2 towards the trunk line loop antenna 3 while receiving the induction signal of the line 1 for the induction signal in one branch line loop antenna 2 with the detection coil 8. When passing over the relevant merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna 5, the reservation signal that is constantly transmitted from the transmitting coil 12 of the autopilot vehicle 7 is received by the merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna 5, and the automatic combining, merging, and
The priority determining device 17 is activated through the merging reservation signal receiving circuit 15 and the merging reservation signal storage circuit 16 of the waiting control circuit 14, and at the same time, the merging reservation signal display device 18 is activated.

When the priority determining device 17 is activated in this way,
The priority order of the input merge reservation signal is automatically determined by the priority order determination device 17 based on a certain standard, and the corresponding call order setting signal is sent to the logic circuit 20, which selects the highest priority signal. The circuit of the standby signal generator 19 corresponding to the merging reservation signal storage circuit 16 of the priority order is turned off, while the circuit of the standby signal generator 19 corresponding to the merging reservation signal storage circuit 16 of the other priority order, such as the next rank, is turned on. The standby signal from the generator 19 is transmitted from the corresponding standby signal transmission loop antenna 4, and the standby signal from the generator 19 is transmitted from the corresponding standby signal transmission loop antenna 4.
When the autopilot vehicle 7 passing above receives a standby signal with its receiving coil 11, it temporarily stops there.

On the other hand, if the merging reservation signal in the priority order determination device 17 has the highest priority as described above, the standby signal is not transmitted from the corresponding standby signal transmission loop antenna 4, and therefore the autopilot vehicle 7 is Passing through the antenna 4, it heads to the confluence of the branch loop antennas 2, passes over the confluence raw signal reception loop antenna, and merges with the main line loop antenna 3, but when passing the confluence raw signal reception loop antenna 6, it automatically Since the merging signal that is constantly transmitted from the transmitting coil 13 of the control vehicle 7 is received by the merging raw signal receiving loop antenna 6, the priority determining device 17 is reset by the merging signal, and at the same time the merging reservation cancellation signal is generated. The merging reservation signal storage circuit 16, which has had the highest priority until now, is reset by the merging reservation cancellation signal outputted from the generation circuit 22, and the priority determining device 17 stores the merging reservation signal, which has had the next highest priority until now. The circuit 16 is promoted to the highest priority, and the corresponding standby signal transmitting loop antenna 4 is moved as described above.
The autopilot vehicle 7 located above will then merge from the branch line loop antenna 2 to the main line loop antenna 3 via the merging point.

Therefore, the method of assigning priorities in the priority order determination device 17 is such that when the merging reservation signal is emitted from one place, the loop antenna that has emitted the merging reservation signal becomes the highest priority merging loop antenna; If the signal is emitted from two or more locations, the loop antenna that first issued the merging reservation signal in terms of time becomes the highest priority merging loop antenna, and the next priority merging loop antenna is set to the solenoid rotary switch shown in Figure 3. It is determined according to the operating order of the ring counter etc. in FIG. 4.

In addition, when multiple autopilot vehicles come to one branch line loop antenna 2, the length of the receiving loop antenna 5 for the merging reservation signal is lengthened along the branch line loop antenna 2 and parallel to the standby signal transmitting loop antenna 4. It is best to line them up.

As detailed in the above embodiment, the automatic combination/merging/waiting device according to the present invention is installed on each orbital loop antenna leading to the combined merging point, and is a merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna that confirms that an autopilot vehicle is approaching. and a standby signal transmission loop antenna provided on each orbital loop antenna leading to the compound confluence to cause the autopilot vehicle to wait in front of the compound confluence; a merging raw signal receiving loop antenna for checking the presence or absence of a vehicle; a merging reservation signal storage circuit for storing the merging reservation signal from the merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna; and setting the priority order of the signals from the storage circuit, and sequentially A priority determination device that outputs this setting signal, and a priority determining device that turns off only the standby signal of the autopilot vehicle that has the highest priority determined by the setting signal, and the highest priority that was waiting in the standby signal receiving loop antenna. a logic circuit that causes only the automatically piloted vehicles to enter the composite junction, and a merging that generates a signal that releases the memory of the merging reservation signal of the automatically piloted vehicle that has entered the composite junction based on the setting signal and the merging signal. It has a simple configuration with a reservation cancellation signal generation circuit, and this automatic combination/merging/waiting device has the function of allowing an autopilot vehicle traveling on the branch line guidance loop antenna to merge into the main line guidance loop antenna without colliding. The merging priority order is that if only one autopilot vehicle arrives at the merging point, the autopilot vehicle will continue merging without waiting, and while one autopilot vehicle is merging, other autopilot vehicles will When the piloted vehicle arrives at the merging point, the autopilot vehicle will continue merging until the autopilot vehicle completes merging.
The autopiloted vehicle that arrived next waits at the merging point (above the standby signal transmission loop antenna), and after the autopiloted vehicle completes merging during merging,
When merging begins and multiple autopiloted vehicles arrive at the merging point at almost the same time, the merging order will be the first autopiloted vehicle to merge first, and then follow the fixed order established on the ground side. The merging will be performed sequentially.

Therefore, according to the present invention, an input signal is selected at the main line position from the branch line loop antenna of an autopilot vehicle that is operated automatically using this type of guide line, and when it is finished, the rotary switch is turned to a position where another input signal is located. , are operated in the same way one after another, and therefore the same input signal cannot be selected again until after the rotary switch has gone around once, so a lopsided selection is not performed, and strictly speaking, the order in which the input signals are called in is memorized. It is clear that the output is not output by
Depending on the application, if there is no apparent difference, this may be sufficient.

In other words, by using the above-described method, the priority determining device of the above embodiment provides a simple device without using a full-scale memory or the like.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the general configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the composite merging and waiting control device in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the priority orders shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram showing the configuration of a determination device. 1... Guide line, 2... Branch line loop antenna, 3... Main line loop antenna, 4...
... Standby signal transmission loop antenna, 5 ... Merging reservation signal reception loop antenna, 6 ... Merging raw signal reception loop antenna, 7 ... Autopilot vehicle, 14・・・・・・Automatic combination/merging/waiting control device, 1
7...Priority determination device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A loop antenna is installed on each orbital loop antenna leading to the compound junction to receive a merging reservation signal to confirm that an autopilot vehicle has entered. A standby signal transmitting loop antenna that waits in front of the complex merging point; a merging raw signal receiving loop antenna that is installed at the complex merging point and confirming the presence or absence of an autopilot vehicle within the complex merging point; and a merging reservation signal receiving loop antenna. A merging reservation signal storage circuit stores a merging reservation signal from a merging reservation signal, and a signal from the storage circuit is inputted, and when there is only one input signal, priority is given to the autopilot vehicle of this input signal source; When multiple input signals are input at the same time, the first input signal is set as the highest priority, the other input signals are determined in a fixed order set internally, and the set signals are sequentially input. a priority determining device for outputting a signal; a standby signal generator capable of always transmitting a standby signal for an autopilot vehicle to the standby signal transmission loop antenna; and a standby signal generator for waiting an autopilot vehicle with the highest priority determined by the setting signal. a logic circuit that allows only the highest priority autopilot vehicle waiting in the standby signal receiving loop antenna to enter the composite junction by turning off only the signal; a merging signal receiving circuit that resets the priority determination device by inputting a merging raw signal transmitted from an autopilot vehicle through the merging raw signal receiving loop antenna when passing; and a merging signal receiving circuit. An automatic combination/merging/waiting device for an autopilot vehicle, comprising a merging reservation cancellation signal generation circuit that releases the memory of the merging reservation signal storage circuit by inputting a reset signal from the merging reservation signal storage circuit.