KR19990072164A - Automatic Wood Unit Tracking System - Google Patents

Abstract

In the forklift, a load cell assembly is added to the fork arm, and the weight of any object loaded by the fork arm lift assembly can be measured. Continuous weight information from the assembly is transmitted via wires to the forklift computer, the IR transmitter, and the receiver. The change in weight is converted by a computer into a load or a load, and then, in response, applies the current corresponding vertical height fork arm from the ultrasonic ranging device. At this time, the computer transmits a unique encoder signal with weight and height information through a telescoping antenna to a high-fixed module strategically arranged throughout the operating range of the forklift. This signal is transmitted to the unit tracking computer system via the location module. The computer can store this information to track the exact position and weight of the moving object.

Description

Automatic Wood Unit Tracking System

Wood is mostly transferred from the original producer to the wholesaler and eventually to the retailer in a bundled unit. These units generally consist of wood of the same thickness but of varying width and length. Units consist of stacking several layers on top of each other with a certain width called coarse. Each cose is composed of several plates arranged from side to side. Typically, these units are nearly four feet wide, four feet high and four to twenty feet long. These sizes allow the unit to be easily transported by conventional forklifts. Sawmills, in particular, wholesalers, can at any time count a large number of their own wood units. This requires that they have an open factory that is separated into groups to facilitate tracking of these units.

One of the characteristics of wood is that when it dries and is exposed to the atmosphere, deformation occurs in appearance and structure. Such deformations include bleaching, cracking, crushing, warping, and the like. For this reason, wood wholesalers want their units to be turned upside down, effectively selling older units before their value deteriorates. One way to solve this problem is to install sheds and other arrangements to block the timber from direct atmospheric exposure. However, this raises the cost, typically resulting in high investment costs that cannot recover the principal for more than seven years.

The task of overturning units before their value deteriorates, and wholesalers also need to track where in hundreds of units at once and track thousands of units loaded, rebuilt, repacked and shipped throughout the year. Faced with the problem. These business problems are exacerbated as wholesalers handle most of their inventory during peak seasons of four to five months. During this high season, the level of inventory inevitably rises as the stock moves. These two factors place a heavy load on a manual tracking system that maintains a precise Yard organization, at least by the species, grade, thickness and life of the unit. A wholesaler can purchase a cantilever rack system and place each unit in a trackable "Bin" to make it easy to organize, search and find units. However. These rack systems are very expensive and require special loading forklifts that are two to four times more expensive than ordinary forklifts. In addition, such a system must track the number of reservoirs and match the number of units, have manual operation difficulties, and incur costs for automation.

In recent years, wholesalers have been interested in handling old units and finding specific units quickly and efficiently when needed, as well as in ensuring that consumers are able to accurately present their salable and ready-to-ship timber to their consumers. have. In most timber workshops, salespeople involved in the inventory tracking system are reluctant to sell one unit to the other because they have difficulty determining which unit can be found and processed more efficiently. Therefore, even if wholesalers buy expensive inventory management software and know exactly which units are available in the workplace and how old they are, without a workshop tracking system, they can easily reach older units than any other unit. It is difficult to predict the cost of derivation. This basic difficulty raises the level of inventory that serves as a safety stock that can always be easily selected for sale. Of course, high inventory levels adversely affect revenue and exacerbate the above-mentioned problems. However, these problems, from the point of view of the seller and the consumer, reduce margins by reducing the wholesaler's inventory and / or increasing the total cost to select and pull.

In order to solve these problems, attention is now focused on a storage tracking approach that is expensive and difficult to handle large and various objects such as wood units. Some use a method of attaching a specific Bar Coded Label to easily identify a unit several feet high from the ground by electronic scanning, but its use is not easy. However, units are often stored at height and depth, especially in excess of space in the warehouse. In this state, the attached code table cannot always be read. In addition, code tables can easily fall off and become unreadable as time passes by the environment. Most wholesalers try to keep the store as organized as possible by simply reclassifying the painting and marking units with identification codes.

To identify each unit requires a different method of using so-called Surface Acoustical Waveform tags. These tags are small pieces of ceramic that resonate with a specific frequency that is identifiable, for example, when impacted by some energy radiated by the Hand Held Electronic Divice. However, these tags are currently expensive and work costs increase because they must be attached to each unit. These tags can also be dropped or broken by the unit. A system based on this method requires a separate position integrated classification method in order to always effectively remember where each unit is attached. This is done by a portable device in which the last position of the unit corresponding to the particular code of the surface acoustic wave tag is recorded. This method requires human interaction and an error may occur if a tag of the wrong unit is detected or a currently attached unit is associated.

The current omnidirectional object tracking technology proposed proposes a fully automatic wood tracking system, so that all fixed locations of all units in the factory or its storage can always be stored without attachment to any device or unit. By providing the unit's location information in real time, the wholesaler is able to relocate his inventory or perform other tasks.

The present invention relates to an electronic system that tracks the position and flow of large objects such as wood units carried by transport devices such as Fork Lifts.

1 is a perspective view of an automatic wood unit tracking system based on electrically tracking the flow of a forklift and its fork arm lift assembly;

2 is a flow chart showing an operating state of the present invention,

3 is a perspective view of a variation of an automatic wood unit tracking system that assists in tracking the flow of the forklift using GPS technology, as in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Therefore, the object and effect of the present invention,

1. Providing a system for tracking the three-dimensional coordinates of wood mills arranged in the wood mill and its storage by itself;

2. to provide such a system without the need to attach any form of tagging or to connect separate independent units;

3. Provide a high accuracy system without fear of confusing the unit;

4. to provide a system that does not require installation of additional configuration for storage or other purposes; Also,

5. It is to provide a system capable of maintaining the position of each and every unit in a constant and real time, and even loading, transporting and shipping a plurality of units in a short time by a plurality of forklifts.

Another object and effect is to provide a system with a minimum flow portion that is hardly affected by changes in the environment. Still other objects and effects of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the drawings and the detailed description.

1, a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the forklift 100, the high fixing module 74a, 74b, the unit tracking computer system 80, and the main computer system 84 is shown. The power supply required for the described apparatus is not described or illustrated throughout the drawings provided, and is the same as in the prior art.) The forklift 100 is a motorized carriage (10) with a fork arm. Fork Arm Lift Track (20) and Fork Arm Lift Assembly (30) move vertically. The fork arm lift assembly 30 includes fork arms 32a and 32b and respective load cell assemblies 40a and 40b for loading wood units to be transported.

The load cell assemblies 40a and 40b measure the weight of the wood units to be placed on each fork arm 32a and 32b. Alternatively, the forklift 100 may use a weighing system that uses hydraulic pressure to vertically replace the forklift arm assembly 30 relative to the fork arm lift track 20 to measure the weight of the wood unit. have.

The load cell assemblies 40a and 40b are fixed to the IR transmitters 44 attached to both sides of the fork arm lift assembly 30 by wirings 42a and 42b, respectively. The IR transmitter 44 continuously communicates with a cooperating IR receiver 48 attached to both sides of the motorized vehicle 10. The IR receiver 44 is attached to the fork list computer 52 fixed to both sides of the motorized vehicle 10 by wiring 50.

The forklift computer 52 is fixed to the ultrasonic distance measuring unit 56 attached to the fork arm lift track 20 by the wiring 54. The ultrasonic distance measuring unit 56 transmits the direct pulsed ultrasonic energy 58a in the vertical direction reflected from the ultrasonic reflector 60 fixed to the fork arm lift assembly 30. The unit 56 also applies the reflected ultrasonic energy 58b from the ultrasonic reflector 60.

The forklift computer 52 is connected via a wire 54 to a conventional I / O device 64 attached to a motorized carriage 10. The computer 62 is also connected to a wire 66 with a telescoping antenna 70 fixed to the fork arm lift track 20. The telescoping antenna 70 communicates bidirectionally with the high-fixed fixing modules 74a and 74b through the signals 72, 76a and 76b. The modules 74a and 74b communicate with the unit tracking computer system 80 through the wirings 78a and 78b, respectively. The unit tracking computer system 80 also communicates with the main computer system 84 via the wiring 82.

work

In normal operation, the forklift 100 is typically capable of transversely moving at least five acres of wood mill. Timber units are strategically placed throughout the mill, depending on the operation of the timber mill. These units continue to enter the shop for normal stocking, are continuously transported from the shop for normal reprocessing, and are also continuously removed from the shop for normal shipment. As such, the mill is provided with a sealed reservoir (Shed) in which both sides for selectively storing the wood unit from the external environment are opened. These reservoirs are generally made of concrete or metal. A plurality of high-fixing modules, such as 74a and 74b, are generally installed in the open and enclosed areas of the wood mill. Multiple modules are in constant communication with all forklifts operating in the shop.

The following description of the operation of the automatic wood unit tracking system follows the order outlined in FIGS. 1 and 2 for detailed configuration. Operation is started with the forklift 100 not loading wood units into its load cell assemblies 40a and 40b. When the forklift 100 flows, the forklift computer 52 applies an encode signal to the telescoping antenna 70 via the wiring 66. The telescoping antenna 70 emits a bidirectional signal 72 and is applied by a plurality of high-fixed modules, such as 74a and 74b. This encoded signal is uniquely the same as the forklift 100. Using conventional tracking techniques, the unit tracking computer system 80, which communicates with the high-fixed fixing modules 74a and 74b, continuously displays the current XY coordinates of the forklift 100, as seen in step 102. Decide

Regarding step 104, the next important event occurs when a load is loaded on the forklift 100. This stacking is achieved by lifting the wood unit with the fork arm lift assembly 30 in which the forklift 100 is operating normally. When the wood unit is loaded in the fork arm lift assembly 30, the load cell assemblies 40a and 40b determine the weight of the unit and transmit the information to the IR transmitter 44 through the wires 42a and 42b, respectively. . The IR transmitter 44 transmits this information to the forklift computer 52 via the wiring 50. In response to the application of the weight information, the forklift computer 52 inputs the current relative vertical height information of the fork arm lift assembly 30 from the ultrasonic distance measuring device 56. Device 56 determines this vertical height information using conventional pulsed incident and reflected Ultrasonic Energy Distance Measuring Technology. Therefore, the weight of the wood unit at the time of loading and the X-Y-Z coordinate are determined by the unit tracking system, as can be seen in step 104.

In connection with step 106, the forklift computer 52 generates an end signal and transmits predetermined weight and height information to the telescoping antenna 70 via the wiring 66. When the telescoping antenna 70 emits a bidirectional signal 72 containing this information, it is applied by a plurality of high-fixed modules, such as 74a and 74b. The unit tracking computer system 80 mixes this weight and initial relative vertical height information with the currently determined X-Y coordinates of the contact forklift 100. This mixed information is transmitted by the unit tracking computer system 80 to the main computer system 84 via the bidirectional communication link 82, as seen in step 106.

In connection with step 108, the main computer system 84 compares this information with the actual database of the same information and checks the forklift 100 for a previously recognized or unrecognized timber unit, i.e. a known or unknown timber unit. Determine whether it is loaded now. This decision can be seen at steps 110 and 112. If the main computer system 84 determines that it is a known unit, then, as shown in step 114, the unit tracking computer system receives the associated unique unit number via the bidirectional communication wiring 82. Pass in 80. The unit tracking computer system 80 also transmits the associated unique unit number to the forklift 100 and each of the high-fixing modules 74a and 74b via the wirings 78a and 78b. The high fixation module 74a, 74b also conveys this information to the telescoping antenna 70 via each radiated signal 76a, 76b. The telescoping antenna 70 applies these signals and transfers this information to the forklift computer 52 via the wiring 66.

In connection with step 116, the forklift computer 52 passes the unique unit number to the I / O device 64 via the wiring 62 for verification by the forklift driver. While the forklift 100 traverses the wood mill completely with the loaded wood unit, the high fixing module 74a, 74b applies the bidirectional signal 72 continuously from the telescoping antenna 70, As a result, the unit tracking computer system 80 continuously determines the XY coordinates of the forklift 100, as can be seen in step 116.

When the forklift 100 arrives at the final destination on which the wood unit is placed, the fork arm lift assembly 30 unloads the unit, as mentioned in step 118. This unloading is performed by the forklift 100 operating normally, by placing the wood unit in the desired position. When the fork arm lift assembly 30 unloads the wood unit, the load cell assemblies 40a and 40b transmit the zero weight detection information through the wiring 42a and 42b to the forklift computer 52, Transmission to the IR transmitter 44, the receiver 48, and the wiring 50 begins. In response to the application of the zero weight detection information, the forklift computer 52 inputs the current corresponding vertical height information of the fork arm lift assembly 30 from the ultrasonic distance measuring device 56. The forklift computer 52 transfers the detected zero weight and vertical height information through the wiring 66 to the unit tracking computer system 80, the telescoping antenna 70, the signal 72, and the high fixing module 74a. 74b) and wires 78a and 78b. The unit tracking computer system 80 mixes this weight and the final relative vertical height information with the currently determined X-Y coordinates of the contact forklift 100, as can be seen in step 118. This mixed information is transmitted by the unit tracking computer system 80 to the main computer system 84 via the bidirectional communication wiring 82, as seen in step 120.

As mentioned in step 122, the main computer system 84 adds this information to the actual database of the same information. At this time, if it is determined that the transferred wood unit is known, the main computer system 84 updates its current coordinates. If it is determined that the unit is not authorized, then the host computer system 84 associates this information with the current unique unit number as well as the currently determined weight and the final X-Y-Z coordinate.

Description of Modifications

3, a variant embodiment 101 of the present invention is shown. Only other important parts are described, and the same parts in the preferred embodiments and the modifications use the same reference numerals as the preferred embodiments. In a variation 101, a spherical positioning satellite 71 is attached to which the forklift 10 is additionally attached to the forklift 10 adjacent to the telescoping antenna 70. The GSP antenna 71 may apply the GSP signal 77 transmitted by an overhead satellite (not shown). The GSP antenna 71 may also transmit the received GSP signal 77 to the GSP receiver 49 via the wiring 67. The GSP receiver 49 may transmit the GSP signal 77 to the current X-Y coordinate of the forklift 10. The forklift computer 52 transmits a signal to the telescoping antenna 70 through wiring, and at this time, the signal is transmitted as a bidirectional signal, and an authorization module provided with the high-fixed fixing modules 74a and 74b of the preferred embodiment, respectively. It is applied to any one of 74c and 74d. The authorization modules 74c and 74d also communicate with the unit tracking computer system 80 via the wiring 78a.

Operation of the Preferred Embodiment

In operation, the GSP antenna 71 continuously applies the GSP signal 77 and then transmits it to the GSP receiver 49 via the wiring 67. At this time, the GSP receiver 49 continuously changes the path and latitude information mixed in the signal 71 and transmits the current X-Y coordinates of the forklift 10 to the forklift computer 52 through wiring. The computer 52 then mixes the current XY information with the current fork height and load weight information and passes it continuously through the wiring 66 to the telescoping antenna 70, which is continuously connected as a bidirectional signal 72. Is released. When a signal is applied by both receivers 74c and 74d or either side, the included information is transmitted to the unit tracking computer system 80 via the wiring 78a. The unit tracking computer system 80 transmits the signal 72 to determine the current XY coordinate of the forklift 10 because the signal 72 already includes the information on which the GSP signal 77 has been changed by the GSP receiver 49. There is no need to perform any special operation on the received signal 72.

Field of Results, Effects and Invention

Thus, the reader can see that the automatic wood unit tracking system provides a system that can track the three-dimensional coordinates of all wood units stored in a wood mill or its storage without authorization or any form of tag attached to each unit. In addition, the reader can see that the system does not confuse each unit or their location, and does not require any special storage configuration. As a result, the system knows the location of each unit or all units at all times or in real time, and even multiple units can be loaded, transported and shipped immediately using multiple forklifts.

Although the foregoing includes specific details, these are merely examples of the preferred embodiments and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Various other variations are possible. This is evident by explaining the tracking of automatic wood units. The system can be used for applications other than tracking the location of wood units. For example, a lumber mill can carry out tracking by the same means, using the planned timber beams that must be transported by large timber and forklifts. Other products, such as metals, are also large products that must be transported by forklift in the geographic area. Metal I-beams, extruded rod bundles, paper bundles, steel coils and plates are examples of such products. Thus, it is possible to automatically track the weight and three-dimensional coordinates of all products that are large enough to be transported.

For small objects such as each steel extension that was previously manually moved, this precise system can be repeatedly loaded and unloaded using a human hand wearing a special pressure-sensitive glove and tracked by a high-fixing module. Can emit a bidirectional signal.

In addition, a link between the main computer system and the forklift input / output device, where valuable data for all products within a given geopolitical area, is stored, allows the main computer to guide the flow of products, such as wood units, as well as records. Let's do it. If it is desired to have the code automatically assigned by the host computer, it can be guided to the unique object identification code associated with the currently loaded and already known object. This can be found, for example, on a barcode labeled as a recently handled part if a known load is assigned to the code. Accordingly, the field of the invention is not limited by the described embodiments, but is determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims (13)

Operation within a defined area is an automatic omnidirectional object tracking system. Means for loading / unloading the object; Means for transferring the loaded object from an initial loading position to a final loading position; And Means for responding to said conveying means for determining initial and final positions of said object. The method of claim 1, The loading / unloading means, Means for determining the time of loading and unloading the object; And And means for responding to the time determining means for determining the Z coordinate of the object. The method of claim 2, The transfer means, Means for continuously transmitting omni-directional signals; Means for obtaining the Z coordinate of the object from the loading / unloading means; And And means for mixing the z-coordinate with the omni-directional signal at the loading and unloading time. In an automatic object identification system operating within a defined area having one or a group of moving objects, Means for determining an initial position in any of the objects in the group of objects; And Means for responding to said initial positioning means for identifying said object based on said initial position. The method of claim 4, wherein The initial positioning means, Means for loading any of the objects; Means for responding to the stacking means for determining an initial X-Y coordinate of the object; And And means for responsive to said loading means for determining an initial Z coordinate for said X-Y coordinate of said object. The method of claim 4, wherein The identification means, Means for comparing an initial position of the object to a known series of final positions of the objects in the group of objects; And And means for checking the identity of any of the objects after said comparison. In a method for automatically and omnidirectionally tracking an object within a defined area, Loading the object; Determining an initial position of the loaded object; Transferring an object loaded at an initial loading position to a final loading position; Unloading the object; And Determining the final position of the unloaded object. The method of claim 7, wherein Loading and unloading the object, Determining the loading and unloading time of the object; And And determining the Z coordinate of the object at the loading and unloading time. The method of claim 7, wherein Transferring the loaded object, Continuously transmitting omni-directional signals; Applying the Z coordinate of the object; And And mixing the Z coordinate with the omni-directional signal at the loading and unloading time. A method for automatically identifying an object within a given area that includes one or more groups of objects, the method comprising: Determining an initial position of the object in the object group; And Identifying the object based on the initial position. The method of claim 10, Determining the initial position, Loading any object; Determining an initial X-Y coordinate of any object loaded; And And determining an initial Z coordinate with respect to the X-Y coordinates of the object. The method of claim 10, Identifying any of the objects, Comparing the initial position of the object with the position of the last known series of objects in the group of objects; And And identifying the identity of any of the objects after the comparing step. In the automatic omni-directional object tracking device that operates within a defined area, Means for loading remotely transmitted coordinate information; Means for responding to said applying means for determining the complete longitude and latitude of said object via said applied coordinate information; And And means for responding to said determining means for transmitting the complete longitude and latitude of said object.