JPS61291315A - Method for diagnosing article tracking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to diagnose an article tracking device in a computer controlled physical distribution system, by sending tracking maker articles together with articles to be distributed, to monitor these marker articles with the use of marker article detectors to detect shifts from the detection of normal article detectors. CONSTITUTION:Passage detectors A through F are laid on a transfer path, and the storage area of an associated computer is divided into subareas corresponding to the sections defined between the detectors A through F with each section being set to be an FiFo file in accordance with the detectors set at the front and rear of the section. If the detector B may not detect the passage of an article 15, a shift in tracking is detected when a marker article 8 passes through a marker detector 10. At this time the computer corrects the contents of the FiFo files at the front and rear of the detector B, and issues an alarm to the detector B. The cycle number of such a error is counted to detect abnormalities of the detectors A through F.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a computer-based product transportation/sorting system and a distribution system such as a product monitoring system on a production line, and in particular, to a system for recognizing handled products one by one. The present invention relates to a tracking device diagnosis method suitable for necessary maintenance of logistics systems.

[Background of the invention]

Conventional product tracking devices that use a computer, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-7934, input movement signals into a computer as the product moves along a conveyance path, and store product information in the computer. A common method is to move the storage location. However, there is no mention of diagnosing the tracking attachment of a moving signal input device or the like using the same computer.

That is, with the conventional tracking method using only a single type of passing signal, it is impossible to detect an error, and all products shift after an error occurs. This is due to the fact that there is no means for synchronizing tracking for each transport section between the transport line and the computer.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to detect tracking abnormalities in a logistics system using only passing signals from simple detectors such as phototubes and passing IJs, and to detect defective detectors that cause abnormalities by section. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for diagnosing tracking errors based on the number of occurrences of tracking abnormalities.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention synchronizes, detects errors, and diagnoses tracking devices by running the marker product along with the regular product.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The present invention will be explained in detail below. As shown in Figure 1,
A product feeding device 6, a product passing detector 9, a marker product passing detector 10, and a computer equipped with each input electronics 3.4.5 & the feeding device ff16 allows the product 7 or,
Tracking is started on the conveyance path 11 from the moment the marker 8 is inserted, and the storage position in the computer is moved as it passes the detector 9. For the passing of the marker product 8, the detector 10 is also activated simultaneously, allowing synchronization of the marker with the storage location in the computer.

Here, concrete examples of the configuration of two types of passage detectors and marker products are shown in FIG. 2. on chain conveyor 15,
On the conveyance path along which the pallet 14 loaded with products moves, a limit switch 13 pushed down by the pallet is normally used to detect the passage of the product 7, and a phototube 12 is used to detect the passage of the marker product 8. use. The marker product 8 is a dummy product that is taller than the normal product 7, so that only the marker product blocks the phototube. In addition, in the conveyance path where products are placed directly on the belt conveyor 17 and moved, a phototube 10 and a magnetic detection device 16 are used to embed 8 marker products and a magnetic material magnetized with VC so that they can be detected. This is a dummy product.

The specific structures and characteristics of the two types of detectors and marker products installed in this way do not affect the essence of this system.
This system can be realized if a Kiji detector that detects only the passing of the marker product can be prepared.

In order to detect and automatically correct tracking abnormalities,
As shown in the figure, in the computer processing logic,
A synchronization processing logic 18 using a marker product is added to the conventional tracking processing. In this case, when a marker product passing signal is input, the memory contents are advanced until the product information in the storage location in the computer corresponding to the detector position becomes the marker product, and an alarm for the corresponding detector is printed on the printer. It is something.

Under normal conditions, the conveyance path and the memory in the computer should match, so the number of times this forward movement is 0, and when abnormal, V
This means that the CVi product will move forward by the number of times it fails to detect the passing of the CVi product. This makes it possible to detect tracking abnormalities and automatically correct them.

In an actual conveyance path, as shown in Fig. 4, a plurality of necessary passage detectors A to F are installed on the conveyance path, and the corresponding storage area in the computer is divided into sections between each detector. This is a FiFo file created by the detector before and after opening the area. If the detector B (1) in the figure cannot detect the passing of the product @, vci, a tracking deviation is detected when the marker product passes as shown in (2). At this time, the computer modifies the contents of the FiFo files before and after detector B, and outputs an alarm to detector BK.

As described above, it is possible to count the number of errors by 2 for each product passing detector, and this is calculated in the computer as shown in FIG. )/(Number of product passages Nn)" By calculating and printing out the result, it is possible to diagnose abnormalities in each passage detector.

Roughly speaking, for a detector whose error rate Rn has reached a certain value or more, the two FiFo files in the computer corresponding to the front and rear of the detector can be changed to one FiFo file, so that the detector becomes defective. The detector can be separated from the system.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, tracking abnormalities are detected and automatically repaired based only on passing signals from a simple detector such as a phototube or a passing limit, and a defective detector that causes the abnormality can be corrected.
Diagnosis can be made based on the number of tracking abnormalities occurring in each section.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a tracking system according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a marker product and a detector, Fig. 3 is a tracking processing logic diagram, and Fig. 4 is a transport path and computer interior in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of correspondence between storage areas and detection failure, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detector abnormality diagnosis table. 1...computer, 2...click, 3,4.5
...Signal input device, 6...Product input device, 7...
Normal product, 8... Marker product, 9... Product passing detector, 1o... Marker passing detector, 11... Conveyance path.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In product tracking in a computer-based distribution system, in parallel with tracking processing for each product, a tracking marker product is passed between a plurality of products to detect the passage of a normal product. Two types of passing detectors, a detector that detects only the passage of the marker product and a detector that detects only the passage of the marker product, monitor the marker product at the interval between the products, and detect an abnormality of the passing detector as the number of times that the tracking deviation occurs in the corresponding section. A method for diagnosing a product tracking device, characterized in that: 2. A method for diagnosing a product tracking device according to claim 1, characterized in that a detector found to be defective as a result of diagnosis is separated from the system.