WO2023138701A1 - Unloading system for automatic-unloading hopper car, and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed in the present disclosure are an unloading system for an automatic-unloading hopper car, and a control method. A control system comprises: a fifth measuring light curtain (5) and an eighth measuring light curtain (8) for driving a first door-opening platform (9) to enter an operation position, and a second measuring light curtain (2) and a sixth measuring light curtain (6) for driving a first door-closing platform (10) to enter an operation position. In the present disclosure, a plurality of movable door-opening platforms and a plurality of movable door-closing platforms are mounted on two sides of rails (13), and a plurality of measuring light curtains detect a carriage to be unloaded and drive the door-opening platforms or the door-closing platforms to enter operation positions, so as to drive a door-opening handle or a door-closing handle of said carriage to rotate and then drive a bottom door to be opened or closed, such that the requirements for the uniformity of vehicle types of a vehicle formation are reduced, and a bottom door can be closed during bidirectional movement of a carriage to be unloaded, thereby improving the applicability and unloading efficiency, and reducing the degree of manual participation.

Description

An unloading system and control method for an automatic unloading hopper car

Cross References to Related Applications

This disclosure claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with application number 202210111013.0 and titled "Unloading System and Control Method for Automatic Unloading Hopper Car" filed on January 21, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

technical field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of hopper car unloading, in particular to an automatic unloading hopper car unloading system and control method.

Background technique

The two ends of the main shaft of the bottom door of the hopper car are respectively equipped with a door opening handle and a door closing handle. When the vehicle is running, the door opening and closing handles at both ends of the main shaft are in contact with the touch table next to the track respectively. The contact force forces the opening and closing handles to move, thereby driving the main shaft connected to it to rotate.

When the vehicle moved forward, the door-opening handle at the door-opening end of the bottom door main shaft contacted with the touch platform, forcing the door-opening handle to drive the main shaft to rotate clockwise to open the bottom door. The opened bottom door continues to move forward along with the vehicle, and the door-closing handle at the door-closing end of the bottom door main shaft contacts with the touch table, forcing the door-closing handle to drive the main shaft to rotate counterclockwise, and the bottom door is closed.

Because the door-opening handle on the existing hopper car bottom door is provided with one, the door-closing handle is also provided with one, so the train formation can only move towards a fixed direction, and all formations are the same vehicle type.

Since the train is pulled by a locomotive, the locomotive and the hopper car are of different models, and there may also be other different non-hopper car types mixed in the train, and the opening and closing of the bottom door of the hopper car must be done through the touch platform on the side of the track to complete the opening and closing operation of the bottom door, so that in the case of mixed non-hopper car models, it is necessary to require the touch platform next to the track to be in a non-working position that will not affect the traction of the locomotive. Therefore, it is necessary to identify locomotives, hopper cars and other non-hopper car types in the train. Only when the vehicle type is recognized as a hopper car, the touch table next to the track enters the working position. The manual operation is complicated and the overall efficiency is low.

Contents of the invention

Aiming at the defects existing in the prior art, the embodiments realized in the present disclosure, for example, solve the problems in the prior art that the opening and closing of the bottom door of the hopper car has a high requirement for the uniformity of vehicle marshalling models and that the opening and closing efficiency of the bottom door of the hopper car is low when there are truck models other than the hopper car in the car group, thereby providing an automatic unloading system for the hopper car.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an unloading system for an automatic unloading hopper car, which includes: a track for carrying the unloading compartment and guiding the unloading compartment to move, a first door-opening work position and a first door-closing work position are arranged on either side of the track; a first measurement light curtain assembly and a second measurement light curtain assembly are sequentially arranged along the extending direction of the track; a first door-opening platform and a first door-closing platform are respectively arranged on the side where the first door-opening work position and the first door-closing work position are provided; The door-opening signal controls the first door-opening platform to move to the first door-opening position, so as to push the unloading compartment door-opening handle moving in the first direction to rotate; the controller controls the first door-closing platform to move to the first door-closing position according to the door-closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly, so as to push the unloading compartment door-closing handle moving in the first direction to rotate.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of unloading control, which is applied to the above-mentioned unloading system. The unloading control method includes: the controller receives a door opening signal generated by the first measuring light curtain assembly or a door closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly; the controller controls the first door opening platform to move to the first door opening working position according to the door opening signal, so as to push the door opening handle of the unloading compartment to rotate; and the controller controls the first door closing platform to move to the first door closing working position according to the door closing signal, so as to push the unloading compartment The door handle turns.

Description of drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following will briefly introduce the accompanying drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of the unloading system of the automatic unloading hopper car at the first measurement light curtain according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a method for unloading control according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the figure: 1. The first measuring light curtain; 2. The second measuring light curtain; 3. The third measuring light curtain; 4. The fourth measuring light curtain; 5. The fifth measuring light curtain; 6. The sixth measuring light curtain; 7. The seventh measuring light curtain; 8. The eighth measuring light curtain; ; 144, the first door closing position; 145, the second door opening position; 146, the second closing position; 147, the controller; 148, the lifting device.

Detailed ways

The present disclosure will be further elaborated below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted here that the descriptions of these embodiments are used to help the understanding of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The specific structures disclosed herein and The functional details are merely used to describe example embodiments of the present disclosure. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many alternative forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

As shown in Figures 1-2, the above object of the present disclosure can be achieved, for example, in the following manner:

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an unloading system for an automatic unloading hopper car, which includes:

The track 13, the extension direction of the track may include a first direction and a second direction, and the track may be used to carry the unloading compartment and guide the movement of the unloading compartment, and either side of the track 13 may be provided with a first door opening position 143 and a first door closing position 144;

The first measuring light curtain assembly and the second measuring light curtain assembly may be arranged sequentially along the extending direction of the track 13;

The first door-opening platform 9 and the first door-closing platform 10 are respectively arranged on the side where the first door-opening work position 143 and the first door-closing work position 144 are arranged;

And a controller 147, which can control the first door-opening platform 9 to move to the first door-opening position 143 according to the door-opening signal generated by the first measurement light curtain assembly, so that the first door-opening platform 9 can push the door handle of the unloading car moving in the first direction at the first door-opening position 143; The door-closing working position 144 pushes the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment moving along the first direction to rotate.

The working principle of some embodiments of the present disclosure is: a first door opening station 143 and a first door closing station 144 can be arranged on one side of the track 13, a first measuring light curtain assembly and a second measuring light curtain assembly can be arranged along the extending direction of the track 13, and the first door opening platform 9 and the first door closing platform 10 can be arranged. When the first measurement light curtain assembly detects the unloading compartment moving along the first direction according to the order in which the measurement light curtain is simultaneously blocked and the light path is blocked, the controller 147 can control the first door opening platform 9 to move to the first door opening position 143 according to the door opening signal generated by the first measurement light curtain assembly, so that the first door opening platform 9 can push the unloading compartment door handle moving in the first direction to rotate at the first door opening position 143 to realize the opening of the bottom door of the unloading compartment. It can be made that when the second measurement light curtain assembly detects the unloading compartment moving along the first direction through the order of the measurement grating being simultaneously blocked and the light path being blocked, the controller 147 can control the first door closing platform 10 to move to the first door closing position 144 according to the door closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly, so that the second door opening platform 10 can push the unloading compartment door closing handle moving along the first direction to rotate at the second door opening position 145 to realize the closing of the bottom door of the unloading compartment. Specifically, the first measurement light curtain assembly and the second measurement light curtain assembly can be configured to be able to detect the unloading compartments that need to be unloaded, and the vehicle models that do not need to be unloaded will not be detected by the first measurement light curtain assembly and the second measurement light curtain assembly, so that even when other vehicle types that do not need to be unloaded are mixed in the vehicle group, when the vehicle type that does not need to be unloaded cannot be detected by the first measurement light curtain assembly and the second measurement light curtain assembly. Enter the working position to reduce the requirements for the uniformity of the vehicle models and improve the applicability. The door opening platform and door closing platform can be controlled by a combination of multiple measurement light curtain components to avoid human The operator judges and moves the complex operation of the door opening platform and the door closing platform, which improves the unloading efficiency and reduces the degree of manual participation.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the unloading system may further include: a second door opening work position 145 and a second door closing work position 146 arranged on one side of the track; a third measurement light curtain assembly and a fourth measurement light curtain assembly, the third measurement light curtain assembly and the fourth measurement light curtain assembly may be arranged side by side in the extending direction of the track 13, and may be connected to the controller 147 for signals at the same time. The second door-opening platform 11 and the second door-closing platform 12 can be signal-connected with the controller 147 .

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 147 can control the second door-opening platform 11 to move to the second door-opening position 145 according to the door-opening signal generated by the third measurement light curtain assembly, so that the second door-opening platform 11 can push the door handle of the unloading compartment moving in the second direction to rotate at the second door-opening position 145; The door platform 12 can push the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment moving along the second direction to rotate at the second door-closing working position 146 .

The rails 13 may be used to carry the unloading cars and guide the movement of the unloading cars.

The combined use of the first measuring light curtain assembly, the second measuring light curtain assembly, the third measuring light curtain assembly and the fourth measuring light curtain assembly can detect the unloading carriage when the unloading carriage moves along the first direction and the second direction extending along the track, or when the unloading carriage turns around and changes the moving direction. Then control the door-opening platform and/or the door-closing platform to enter the working position. For models that do not need to be unloaded, the door opener and/or door closer return or stay in the non-working position to avoid affecting the models that do not need to be unloaded, so as to reduce the requirements for the uniformity of the vehicle models in the vehicle group, improve applicability, avoid manual judgment and move the complex operation of the door opener and door closer, improve unloading efficiency, and reduce the degree of manual participation.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first measurement light curtain assembly may include a fifth measurement light curtain 5 and an eighth measurement light curtain 8 . The second measurement light curtain assembly may include a second measurement light curtain 2 and a sixth measurement light curtain 6 . The third measurement light curtain assembly may include a first measurement light curtain 1 and a fourth measurement light curtain 4 . The fourth measurement light curtain assembly may include a third measurement light curtain 3 and a seventh measurement light curtain 7 .

The measuring light curtain in some embodiments of the present disclosure may be a photoelectric sensor, specifically an electronic device that senses changes in received light signals. All photoelectric sensors can use modulated light to exclude possible influences from surrounding light sources. In operation, the light emitter of the photoelectric sensor can emit light through the movement path of the object to be detected. When the object to be detected passes by, the object to be detected either absorbs the light or reflects the light to the light receiver of the photoelectric sensor according to the different detection modes of the photoelectric sensor, thereby causing a change in the light intensity received by the light receiver. This change can trigger the output of the switch signal to realize the detection function.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the sensor for measuring the light curtain is similar to a common through-beam photoelectric sensor, and may include two parts: a transmitter and a receiver that are separated from each other and placed opposite to each other. The transmitter and receiver can be long tubular in shape. Measurement The detection light or light pulse generated by the emitter of the light curtain is not just one beam like ordinary sensors, but an array of light or light pulses is generated at regular intervals along the length extension direction of the tubular shape of the emitter to form a "light curtain". The sensors that measure the light curtain can be combined with the controller 147 and its software to form a "light curtain system". The "light curtain system" can detect the emitter and receiver pairs with a clear optical path and the emitter and receiver pairs whose optical path is blocked in the "light curtain system" in a scanning manner, so as to realize the function of detecting objects and/or measuring the external dimensions of objects.

The principle of measuring the light curtain is: after the transmitter and the receiver are powered on, the transmitter emits an array of infrared light or light pulses directly to the receiver. When the target object is placed (or run) in the light curtain formed between the transmitter and the receiver, it will block part or all of the infrared light or light pulses emitted by the transmitter, so that the corresponding receiver cannot receive the corresponding infrared light or light pulses. The sensors that measure the light curtain can be combined with the controller 147 and its software to form a "light curtain system". A "light curtain system" can use synchronous scanning to identify blocked infrared rays or light pulses. First, when a transmitter channel emits infrared light or light pulses, it searches for the infrared light or light pulses in its corresponding receiver channel, and when found, the scanning of a pair of channels is completed. Then the "light curtain system" turns to the next pair of transmitter and receiver channels until all pairs of transmitter and receiver channels are scanned, which is a scan cycle. In a scanning cycle, the "light curtain system" records a pair of transmitter and receiver channels whose receiver channel can receive infrared light or light pulses as open light, and records a pair of transmitter and receiver channels whose receiver channel cannot receive infrared light pulses as blocked. A pair of transmitter and receiver channels that register as blocked detects the presence of the target object.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the length of the unloading compartment of the hopper car may be greater than the distance between the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 . When the unloading compartment of the hopper car moves on the track 13 along the first direction and is just between the fifth measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8, the unloading compartment of the hopper car can simultaneously block the light path of the transmitter and receiver pair of the fifth measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8. When it is detected that the optical paths corresponding to the fifth measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 are simultaneously blocked, the first door opening platform 9 can be controlled to move to the working position. Now, the working position where the first door-opening platform 9 is located can be on the same side of the unloading compartment as the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment in this state. As the unloading compartment moves along the first direction, the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment is promoted at the first door-opening platform 9 to complete unloading. The length of the unloading compartment of the hopper car can also be greater than the distance between the second measuring light curtain 2 and the sixth measuring light curtain 6, and when the unloading compartment of the funnel car moves on the track 13 along the first direction and is just between the second measuring light curtain 2 and the sixth measuring light curtain 6, the unloading compartment of the hopper car can simultaneously block the light path of the transmitter and receiver pair of the second measuring light curtain 2 and the sixth measuring light curtain 6. Similar to the situation when the fifth measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 are located, when it is detected that the light paths of the second measuring light curtain 2 and the sixth measuring light curtain 6 are blocked at the same time, the first door closing platform 10 can be controlled to move to the working position. At this time, the working position of the first door closing platform 10 can be on the same side of the unloading compartment as the door closing handle of the unloading compartment in this state, so that as the unloading compartment moves along the first direction, the first door closing platform 10 pushes the door closing handle of the unloading compartment to close the bottom door after unloading.

It is worth noting that, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, two A door handle is respectively provided with a door handle on both sides of the unloading compartment. No matter whether the hopper car moves along the first direction or the second direction of the track extension, one of the two door opening handles arranged on both sides of the unloading car can always be in contact with the first door opening platform 9 in the working position, so that the door opening handle rotates on the guiding slope of the first door opening platform 9 in contact with it to drive the bottom door to open.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, only one side of the bottom door under the unloading compartment may be provided with a door closing handle. That is to say, only when the first door closing platform 10 is in working position on one side of the unloading compartment and the door closing handle on one side of the unloading compartment is on the same side as the first door closing platform 10 on the same side of the unloading compartment, the first door closing platform 10 can drive the door closing handle to rotate and drive the bottom door to close. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, without changing the setting of the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment, two first door-closing platforms 10 may also be provided, that is, one first door-closing platform is respectively provided on both sides of the track. So that regardless of whether the hopper car moves along the first direction or the second direction in which the track extends, the door closing handle arranged on one side of the unloading car can be in contact with one of the two first door closing platforms 10 in the working position, so that the door closing handle rotates on the guide slope on the first door closing platform 10 in contact with it to drive the bottom door to close.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the unloading position between the first door-opening platform 9 and the first door-closing platform 10 and the unloading position between the second door-closing platform 12 and the second door-closing platform 12 may be the same unloading position. This can improve the uniformity of unloading, so that no matter whether the unloading carriage moves along the first direction or the second direction of the rail extension, the unloading can be performed at the preset unloading position.

When the unloading compartment of the hopper car moves on the track 13 along the second direction in which the track extends, the length of the unloading compartment of the hopper car may be greater than the distance between the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4 . When the unloading compartment of the funnel truck moves on the rail 13 along the first direction and is just between the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the unloading compartment of the funnel truck can simultaneously block the light paths of the transmitter and receiver pairs of the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4. When it is detected that the light paths corresponding to the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4 are simultaneously blocked, the second door opening platform 11 can be controlled to move to the working position. At this time, the working position where the second door-opening platform 11 is located can be on the same side of the unloading compartment as the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment in this state. As the unloading compartment moves along the first direction, when the second door-opening platform 11 pushes the door handle of the unloading compartment to complete unloading, the length of the unloading compartment of the hopper car can be greater than the distance between the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7, and when the unloading compartment of the hopper car moves on the track 13 along the first direction and is just between the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7, the unloading compartment of the hopper car can simultaneously block the emitters of the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7 and the optical path of the receiver pair. Similar to the situation when the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4 are located, when it is detected that the optical paths corresponding to the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7 are simultaneously blocked, the working position of the second door closing platform 12 can be on the same side of the unloading compartment as the door closing handle of the unloading compartment in this state, so that as the unloading compartment moves along the first direction, the second door closing platform 12 pushes the door closing handle of the unloading compartment to close the bottom door after unloading.

By detecting that the light paths of the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4 are blocked at the same time, the second door opening platform 11 can be controlled to enter the working position. The second door-opening platform 11 pushes the unloading compartment moving along the second direction at the working position The door opening handle rotates, which in turn can drive the bottom door to open and start unloading. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the unloading carriage moving in the second direction can be detected by detecting that the light paths of the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7 are blocked at the same time and the order of the light paths being blocked. The second door closing platform 12 can be controlled to enter the working position, so that the second door closing platform 12 pushes the door closing handle of the unloading compartment moving in the second direction to rotate, thereby driving the bottom door to close. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the moving direction of the unloading car may not be restricted, whether the unloading car moves along the first direction extending along the track or turns around and moves along the second direction extending along the track, the unloading car can be detected by the measuring light curtain adapted to the situation of moving along the first direction and the second direction. Even when there are other vehicle types mixed in the vehicle group, the vehicle type that does not need to be unloaded cannot be detected by the fifth light curtain 5 and the eighth light curtain 8 at the same time, or when it cannot be detected by the second light curtain 2 and the sixth light curtain 6, or when it cannot be detected by the first light curtain 1 and the fourth light curtain 4, or when it cannot be detected by the third light curtain 3 and the seventh light curtain 7, the door opener or the door closer will not be controlled to enter the working position. When the corresponding measuring light curtain can detect the unloading compartment, control the corresponding door opening platform or door closing platform to enter the work position, which can reduce the requirements for the uniformity of the vehicles in the formation.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the unloading car is only provided with a door handle on one side of the car, by setting the first door closing platform 10 and the second door closing platform 12 on both sides of the track 13, the bottom door can be closed when the unloading car moves in the first direction or the second direction extending along the track. This avoids changing the bottom door structure of the original unloading car, and improves the applicability. Moreover, multiple door opening platforms and door closing platforms are controlled by multiple corresponding measuring light curtain combinations, avoiding manual judgment and complex operations of moving the door opening platforms and door closing platforms, and improving the unloading efficiency.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first measuring light curtain 1 , the second measuring light curtain 2 , the third measuring light curtain 3 , the fourth measuring light curtain 4 , the fifth measuring light curtain 5 , the sixth measuring light curtain 6 , the seventh measuring light curtain 7 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 are sequentially arranged on both sides of the track 13 along the first direction or the second direction extending along the track.

The first measuring light curtain 1, the second measuring light curtain 2, the third measuring light curtain 3, the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the fifth measuring light curtain 5, the sixth measuring light curtain 6, the seventh measuring light curtain 7 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 are sequentially arranged along the first direction or the second direction extending along the track. Thereby the first door-opening platform 9 can be controlled to enter the work position under the situation of detecting the unloading compartment by the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8; the first door-closing platform 10 can be controlled to enter the work position under the situation of detecting the unloading compartment by the second measurement light curtain 2 and the sixth measurement light curtain 6; Control the second door-closing platform 12 to enter the working position in the case of a carriage; in the case of setting and using less light curtains, the door-opening platform and the door-closing platform can be reasonably allocated to the opening and closing platforms according to the conditions of the carriages on the track, improving the utilization rate of the space on the track 13 and beside the track, and reducing costs.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the distance between the first measurement light curtain 1 and the fourth measurement light curtain 4, The distance between the second measurement light curtain 2 and the sixth measurement light curtain 6, the distance between the third measurement light curtain 3 and the seventh measurement light curtain 7, the distance between the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 can be respectively set as a first distance, and the first distance is the length of the unloading car.

It is worth noting that, since the length of the existing unloading carriages is not uniform, and the production and design manufacturers of the unloading carriages are all consistent, and there is no corresponding industry standard specification, it is easy to have unloading carriages of different sizes in a vehicle marshalling. In order to avoid interference or inapplicability between the first door-opening platform 9, the first door-closing platform 10, the second door-opening platform 11, the second door-closing platform 12 and unloading cars of different specifications, the distance between the first measuring light curtain 1 and the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the distance between the second measuring light curtain 2 and the sixth measuring light curtain 6, the distance between the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7, the distance between the fifth measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 can be adjusted, so that the distance between the measuring light curtain 5 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8 is adjusted. The lengths of the unloading carriages are the same, so that the unloading carriages of different lengths can be detected by the measuring light curtain assembly. In this way, the applicability is improved, and the control stability of the control system is also improved, misoperation is avoided, and control consistency is improved.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a control system may include one or more measurement light curtain assemblies, and the first distance between corresponding light curtains in the one or more measurement light curtain assemblies may be set to be the same as the length of unloading cars of different specifications. In a control system, the applicability of the control system can be improved and manual intervention can be reduced by presetting the first distance between corresponding light curtains in one or more measuring light curtain assemblies to be the same as the length of different unloading cars.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the fifth measurement light curtain 5 , the sixth measurement light curtain 6 , and the seventh measurement light curtain 7 are located between the first door opening platform 9 and the second door closing platform 12 . The second measurement light curtain 2 , the third measurement light curtain 3 , and the fourth measurement light curtain 4 may be located between the second door opening platform 11 and the first door closing platform 10 . In this way, the space utilization rate of the unloading position can be improved, unnecessary increase of the unloading journey can be avoided, and the unloading efficiency can be improved.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first opening and closing sensor 141 may be provided on the first measurement light curtain 1 , and a second opening and closing sensor 142 may be provided on the eighth measurement light curtain 8 .

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first opening and closing sensor 141 may be connected with the second measurement light curtain 2, the sixth measurement light curtain 6, the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8, and may be used to control the closing of the second measurement light curtain 2, the sixth measurement light curtain 6, the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8. The second opening and closing sensor 142 can be connected with the first measuring light curtain 1, the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7, and can be used to control the closing of the first measuring light curtain 1, the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7.

When the unloading compartment passes the first opening and closing sensor 141, the first opening and closing sensor 141 can control the second measurement light curtain 2, the sixth measurement light curtain 6, the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 to close. Avoid at this time the second measurement light curtain 2, the sixth measurement light curtain 6, the fifth measurement light curtain 5 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 work control Control the second door-opening platform 11 and the second door-closing platform 12 to move to the working position. Therefore, the movement interference between the door opening platform and the door closing platform and the unloading vehicle is avoided, and the stability of the control system is improved.

Similarly, when the unloading compartment passes the second opening and closing sensor 142, the second opening and closing sensor 142 can control the first measurement light curtain 1, the fourth measurement light curtain 4, the third measurement light curtain 3 and the seventh measurement light curtain 7 to close. At this time, the first measuring light curtain 1 , the fourth measuring light curtain 4 , the third measuring light curtain 3 and the seventh measuring light curtain 7 control the first door opening platform 9 and the first door closing platform 10 to move to the working positions. Therefore, the movement interference between the door opening platform and the door closing platform and the unloading vehicle is avoided, and the stability of the control system is improved.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first opening and closing sensor 141 and the second opening and closing sensor 142 may be through-beam ultrasonic sensors.

Through-beam ultrasonic sensors are sensors that convert ultrasonic signals into other energy signals (usually electrical signals). Ultrasound is a mechanical wave with a vibration frequency higher than 20kHz. It has the characteristics of high frequency, short wavelength, small diffraction phenomenon, especially good directionality, and can become ray and directional propagation. In this way, the stability of the control system including the first opening and closing sensor 141 and the second opening and closing sensor 142 can be improved.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first measurement light curtain 1 , the second measurement light curtain 2 , the third measurement light curtain 3 , the fourth measurement light curtain 4 , the fifth measurement light curtain 5 , the sixth measurement light curtain 6 , the seventh measurement light curtain 7 and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 can be arranged such that their light arrays cross the extending direction of the track 13 above the track 13 .

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, between the first measurement light curtain 1 , the second measurement light curtain 2 , the third measurement light curtain 3 , the fourth measurement light curtain 4 , the fifth measurement light curtain 5 , the sixth measurement light curtain 6 , the seventh measurement light curtain 7 , and the eighth measurement light curtain 8 and the bottom surface, a lifting device 148 for height adjustment can be provided respectively.

It is worth noting that, since the length of the existing unloading carriages is not uniform, and the production and design manufacturers of the unloading carriages are all consistent, and there is no corresponding industry standard specification, it is easy to have unloading carriages with different heights and sizes. The height change of the unloading compartment can be compensated by adjusting the relative position height of the first measuring light curtain 1, the second measuring light curtain 2, the third measuring light curtain 3, the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the fifth measuring light curtain 5, the sixth measuring light curtain 6, the seventh measuring light curtain 7 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8. Ensure that the unloading cars of different heights can stably pass through the light or light pulse arrays of the first measuring light curtain 1, the second measuring light curtain 2, the third measuring light curtain 3, the fourth measuring light curtain 4, the fifth measuring light curtain 5, the sixth measuring light curtain 6, the seventh measuring light curtain 7 and the eighth measuring light curtain 8. This increases the applicability of the measuring light curtain.

In the second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for controlling unloading is also provided, which is applied to the above-mentioned unloading system. As shown in Figure 3, the unloading control method includes:

S1, the controller 147 receives the door opening signal generated by the first measurement light curtain assembly or the second measurement light curtain The closing signal of the component;

S2, the controller 147 controls the first door-opening platform 9 to move to the first door-opening working position 143 according to the door-opening signal, so as to push the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment to rotate; and

S3, the controller 147 controls the first door-closing platform 10 to move to the first door-closing working position 144 according to the door-closing signal, so as to push the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment to rotate.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a first door-opening station 143 and a first door-closing station 144 are arranged on one side of the track, and a first measuring light curtain assembly and a second measuring light curtain assembly, as well as a first door-opening station and a first door-closing station are arranged along the extending direction of the rail. The door handle is rotated to realize the opening of the bottom door of the unloading compartment. When the second measuring light curtain assembly detects the unloading compartment moving in the first direction, the controller 147 controls the first door closing platform to move to the first door closing position 144 according to the door closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly, and pushes the door closing handle of the unloading compartment moving in the first direction to rotate to realize the closing of the bottom door of the unloading compartment. The unloading compartment to be unloaded is identified by the first measuring light curtain assembly and the second measuring light curtain assembly. For vehicle models, when the vehicle models that do not need to be unloaded cannot be detected by the first measuring light curtain assembly and the second measuring light curtain assembly, the door opening platform or door closing platform will not be allowed to enter the working position, so as to reduce the requirements for the uniformity of the vehicle marshalling models and improve applicability, and the door opening platform and door closing platform are controlled by a combination of multiple measurement light curtain components, avoiding manual judgment and moving the door opening platform and door closing platform, improving unloading efficiency and reducing the degree of manual participation.

It should be understood that the terms first, second, etc. are only used for distinguishing descriptions, and cannot be interpreted as indicating or implying relative importance. Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one unit from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" in this article is only an association relationship describing associated objects, which means that there may be three kinds of relationships. For example, A and/or B can mean: A exists alone, B exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time.

It should be understood that in the description of the present disclosure, the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper", "vertical", "inner", "outer", etc. is the orientation or positional relationship that the disclosed product is usually placed in use, or the orientation or positional relationship that is commonly understood by those skilled in the art. It is only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus cannot be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should also be noted that, unless otherwise specified and limited, the terms "setting", "installation" "Installation" and "connection" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through an intermediary, and can be internal communication between two elements. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this disclosure according to specific situations.

The terms used herein are for describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting of example embodiments of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "comprises", "comprises", "comprises", and/or "comprises" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, units and/or components and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, units, components and/or combinations thereof.

In the following description specific details are provided to facilitate a thorough understanding of example embodiments. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that example embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known processes, structures and techniques may not be shown in unnecessary detail in order not to obscure the example embodiments.

The above descriptions are only specific implementation manners of the present disclosure, so that those skilled in the art can understand or implement the present disclosure. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims (10)

1. An unloading system for an automatic unloading hopper car, comprising:

   The track (13) is used to carry the unloading carriage and guide the movement of the unloading carriage, and a first door opening work position (143) and a first door closing work position (144) are arranged on either side of the track (13);

   The first measuring light curtain assembly and the second measuring light curtain assembly are sequentially arranged along the extending direction of the track (13);

   The first door-opening platform (9) and the first door-closing platform (10) are respectively arranged to be located on the same side of the track (13) as the first door-opening work position (143) and the first door-closing work position (144); and

   A controller (147), which controls the first door-opening platform (9) to move to the first door-opening position (143) according to the door-opening signal generated by the first measurement light curtain assembly, so as to push the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment moving in the first direction along the extending direction to rotate; the controller (147) controls the first door-closing platform (10) to move to the first door-closing position (144) according to the door-closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly, so as to push the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment moving in the first direction turn.
2. The unloading system of the automatic unloading hopper car according to claim 1, further comprising:

   A second door opening position (145) and a second door closing position (146) are arranged on either side of the track (13);

   The third measuring light curtain assembly and the fourth measuring light curtain assembly are sequentially arranged along the extending direction of the track (13);

   The second door-opening platform (11) and the second door-closing platform (12) are respectively arranged to be located on the same side of the track (13) as the second door-opening work position (145) and the second door-closing work position (146); and

   The controller (147) also controls the second door-opening platform (11) to move to the second door-opening position (145) according to the door-opening signal generated by the third measurement light curtain assembly, so as to push the door handle of the unloading compartment moving along the second direction of the extending direction to rotate; The handle turns.
3. The unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car as claimed in claim 2, wherein: said first measurement light curtain assembly comprises a fifth measurement light curtain (5) and an eighth measurement light curtain (8), said second measurement light curtain assembly comprises a second measurement light curtain (2) and a sixth measurement light curtain (6), said third measurement light curtain assembly comprises a first measurement light curtain (1) and a fourth measurement light curtain (4), said fourth measurement light curtain assembly comprises a third measurement light curtain (3) and a seventh measurement light curtain (7).
4. The unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car according to claim 3, wherein: along the second direction, the first measuring light curtain (1), the second measuring light curtain (2), the third measuring light curtain (3), the fourth measuring light curtain (4), the fifth measuring light curtain (5), the sixth measuring light curtain (6), the seventh measuring light curtain (7) and the eighth measuring light curtain (8) are sequentially arranged on both sides of the track (13).
5. The unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car according to any one of claims 3 to 4, wherein: the first door closing platform (10) is provided with two and is located on both sides of the track (13) respectively, so that when the unloading compartment moves along the first direction, one of the first closing platform (10) and the single-side door closing handle of the unloading compartment are located on the same side of the track; The one-side door-closing handle of the door-closing platform (12) and the unloading compartment is positioned at the same side of the track.
6. The unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: the fifth measuring light curtain (5), the sixth measuring light curtain (6), and the seventh measuring light curtain (7) are located between the first door opening platform (9) and the second door closing platform (12); the second measuring light curtain (2), the third measuring light curtain (3), and the fourth measuring light curtain (4) are located between the second door opening platform ( 11 ) and the first door closing platform ( 10 ).
7. The unloading system of the automatic unloading hopper car according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein:

   The first measuring light curtain (1) is provided with a first opening and closing sensor (141), the controller (147) is connected with the first opening and closing sensor (141) to receive the signal of the first opening and closing sensor (141); the controller (147) is connected with the second measuring light curtain (2), the sixth measuring light curtain (6), the fifth measuring light curtain (5) and the eighth measuring light curtain (8), so as to control the second measuring light curtain (2) according to the signal of the first opening and closing sensor (141) ), the sixth measurement light curtain (6), the fifth measurement light curtain (5) and the eighth measurement light curtain (8) are closed;

   The eighth measuring light curtain (8) is provided with a second opening and closing sensor (142), the controller (147) is connected with the second opening and closing sensor (142) to receive the signal of the second opening and closing sensor (142), and the controller (147) is connected with the first measuring light curtain (1), the fourth measuring light curtain (4), the third measuring light curtain (3) and the seventh measuring light curtain (7), so as to control the first measuring light curtain (1) according to the signal of the second opening and closing sensor (142) ), the fourth measuring light curtain (4), the third measuring light curtain (3) and the seventh measuring light curtain (7) are closed.
8. For the unloading system of an automatic unloading funnel vehicle in any one of the claim 3 to 7, the first measurement light curtain (1), the second measurement light curtain (2), the third measurement light curtain (3), the fourth measurement light curtain (4), the fifth measurement light curtain (5), the sixth measurement light curtain (6), the seventh measurement light curtain (7), and the item, The eighth measuring light curtain (8) is set to cross the extension direction of the light array above the orbit (13) in the orbit (13).
9. The unloading system of an automatic unloading hopper car according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein: the first measuring light curtain (1), the second measuring light curtain (2), the third measuring light curtain (3), the fourth measuring light curtain (4), the fifth measuring light curtain (5), the sixth measuring light curtain (6), the seventh measuring light curtain (7) and the eighth measuring light curtain (8) and the bottom surface are respectively provided with a lifting device (148) for adjusting height.
10. An unloading control method, applied to the unloading system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the unloading control method comprising:

    The controller (147) receives the door opening signal generated by the first measuring light curtain assembly or the door closing signal of the second measuring light curtain assembly;

    The controller (147) controls the first door-opening platform to move to the first door-opening working position (143) according to the door-opening signal, so as to push the door-opening handle of the unloading compartment to rotate; and

    The controller (147) controls the first door-closing platform to move to the first door-closing working position (144) according to the door-closing signal, so as to push the door-closing handle of the unloading compartment to rotate.