JPH036096B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] In order to simplify the control of an article conveyance system using a linear motor, the present invention enables the linear motor to be driven only in an upward direction on a conveyance path where gravity acceleration can be used. It is.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an article conveyance system in which a carrier for loading articles is moved from one point on a conveyance path to another point by a linear motor, and particularly relates to drive control of a linear motor in a vertical conveyance portion of a conveyance path. It is something.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional article conveyance system using a linear motor is shown in FIG. In the figure,
R is a conveyance path established in a building such as a bank, and stations ST1, ST2, ST are located along this conveyance path.
3, ..., STn-1, STn are provided. At each station position, there are stators S1 to S1 including primary coils that are the constituent elements of the linear motor.
Sn is installed. On the other hand, 20 is a transport vehicle for transporting articles (hereinafter referred to as carrier), and a secondary conductor plate 25, which is another component of the linear motor, is attached to this carrier 20, and the stator installed in the transport path R is connected to the carrier 20. The carrier 20 is caused by electromagnetic action from S1 to Sn to the secondary conductor plate 25.
is adapted to run on the conveyance path R. In addition, a station control unit STC that controls the stator, etc. corresponds to each station ST1 to STn.
1 to STCn are provided, and these station control units STC1 to STCn are respectively controlled in parallel by a carrier control unit 50. Further, the system control section 60 controls the entire system, such as issuing commands for running and stopping the carrier 20 to the carrier control section 50.

In the above system, for example, when moving the carrier from station ST1 to station ST2, the transport path R from station ST1 to station ST2 is moved based on a command from the system control unit 60 (carrier control unit 50).
Power is supplied to the stator provided so that the stator is in a predetermined control state (acceleration control state, deceleration control state, stop control state). Then, when a start command is issued to the station ST1, the carrier 20 moves from the station ST1 to the station ST2 due to the electromagnetic action from each stator in the above-described control state.

Next, an excitation method for controlling the traveling direction of the carrier 20 will be explained. FIG. 4 shows current supply paths to the primary coils 10 constituting each of the stators. The primary coil is coil A,
Consisting of B and C, U-phase wave current is always applied to coil A from an AC power supply, and either v-phase wave or w-phase wave is applied to coils B and C via semiconductor relays (SSR) 11 to 14. A current of 1 is applied in a switching manner. That is, the semiconductor relays 11 to 14 each switch the current phase supplied to the coils B and C based on the direction control signal from the carrier control unit 50.
From the carrier control unit 50 to the excitation direction 1 (DRV in the figure)
When a control signal (represented by 1) is received, the v-phase wave of the three-phase alternating current passes through the semiconductor relay 14 to the coil B.
The w-phase wave is supplied to the coil C via the semiconductor relay 11. At this time, the semiconductor relays 12 and 13 are in a current cutoff state by a current cutoff control signal (represented by BKV1 in the figure) from the carrier control section 50. On the other hand, the carrier control section 5
When a control signal from 0 to excitation direction 2 (represented by DRV2 in the figure) is received, the v-phase wave of the three-phase AC is supplied to the coil C via the semiconductor relay 13, and the w-phase wave is supplied via the semiconductor relay 12. is supplied to coil B. At this time, the semiconductor relays 11 and 14 receive a current cutoff control signal (in the figure) from the carrier control unit 50.
(represented by BKV2), the current is cut off. By switching the traveling magnetic field by switching the current supply to the primary coil 10, the carrier 20 is controlled to accelerate or decelerate to an appropriate speed, and moves along the transport path R in either the left or right direction.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As described above, in the conventional article conveyance system, acceleration/deceleration control of the carrier is performed by switching the current supply to the primary coil constituting the stator.
However, if we focus on vertically or steeply sloped parts that change vertically, such as conveyance paths connecting the first floor and second floor or the first floor and basement, in such parts downward thrust is replaced by gravity. As a result, carrier acceleration/deceleration control can be achieved simply by generating upward thrust. Therefore, if the conventional acceleration/deceleration control method were applied directly to the vertical change area, the number of parts would increase and control would be difficult. The problem is that it gets complicated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to simplify the acceleration/deceleration control of the carrier in the portion where the conveyance path changes in the vertical direction.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above objects and solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a conveying path including a vertical conveying section;
In an article conveyance system comprising a carrier that conveys articles by moving on this conveyance path using a linear motor as a drive source, and a controller that drives and controls the linear motor, the controller only moves upward in the vertical conveyance portion of the conveyance path. The thrust of the linear motor was generated.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 shows an example of the overall configuration of the article conveyance system according to the present invention. In the figure, R is a conveyance path established in a building such as a bank, and the station is located along this conveyance path R except for the vertical portion.
ST1, ST2, ..., STn-1, STn are provided. Stators S1 to Sm each including a primary coil serving as a component of a linear motor are installed in the vertical portion of the transport path R and at each station position. On the other hand, 20 is a transport vehicle for transporting goods (hereinafter referred to as carrier), and this carrier 20
A secondary conductor plate 25, which is another component of the linear motor, is attached to the carrier 20 by electromagnetic action on the secondary conductor plate 25 from the stators S1 to Sm installed on the conveyance path R. It is designed to run on a conveyance path R. In addition, station control units STC1 to STCn are provided corresponding to each station ST1 to STn to control the stators, etc., and the other vertical part has stators Sy and Sy.
Stator control unit that controls +1 and Sy+2
SCy, SCy+1, and SCy+2 are provided. These station control units STC1 to STCn
The stator control units SCy to SCy+2 are each controlled in parallel by the carrier control unit 50. Further, the system control section 60 controls the entire system, such as issuing commands for running and stopping the carrier 20 to the carrier control section 50.

By the way, the stator installed in the vertical part of the conveyance path R
Sy to Sy+2 are excited and controlled as shown in FIG. In the figure, 10 is a primary coil consisting of coils A, B, and C, and 15 and 16 are semiconductor relays for power supply control. These semiconductor relays 15 and 16 supply power to the primary coil 10 based on a control signal from the carrier control section 50, and supply power to the carrier 2.
This is to control so that the secondary conductor plate 25 of No. 0 generates an upward thrust. That is, the semiconductor relay 15,
When a drive signal (represented by DRV in the figure) is sent from the carrier control unit 50 to the coil B from the AC power source through the semiconductor relay 15,
A phase wave current is supplied, and a v-phase wave is supplied to the coil C via the semiconductor relay 16. In addition, coil A
is always supplied with a v-phase wave. Therefore, by supplying such current to the primary coil 10, the stator
The linear motor constituted by Sy to Sy+2 and the secondary conductor plate 25 drives the carrier 20 upward. In addition, a current cutoff signal (BKV in the figure) is sent from the carrier control unit 50 to the semiconductor relays 15 and 16.
), the semiconductor relay 15,
16 cuts off the current supply to the primary coil 10. Therefore, in order to accelerate the carrier 20 moving from below to above in the vertical portion of the conveyance path R,
From the carrier control unit 50 to the semiconductor relays 15 and 16
In order to decelerate the rising carrier 20, it is sufficient to cut off the current supply to the primary coil 10 and apply braking by gravity. Become. vice versa,
To accelerate the carrier 20 that is descending from above to below, the current supply to the primary coil 10 is cut off and acceleration is caused by gravity, and to decelerate the descending carrier 20, current is supplied to the primary coil 10. From the carrier control unit 50 to the semiconductor relays 15 and 16
What is necessary is to send a drive signal to the linear motor so that an upward thrust is generated in the linear motor. Incidentally, the acceleration/deceleration control of the carrier in the horizontal portion of the conveyance path is similar to the conventional method.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the vertical change portion of the conveyance path according to the present invention, the acceleration/deceleration control of the carrier is performed by simply controlling the linear motor to generate thrust only in the upward direction. The number of stator control parts (for example, semiconductor relays) to be disposed in the stator is reduced, the control itself is simplified, and the reliability of the control system in that part is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a current supply path to the primary coil of a linear motor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an example of an article conveyance system according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a conventional article conveyance system. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of current supply to the primary coil of a linear motor in a conventional system. 10...Primary coil, 11-16...Semiconductor relay, 20...Carrier, 25...Secondary conductor plate,
50...Carrier control unit, 60...System control unit, R...Transport path, ST1 to STn...Station, STC1 to STCn...Station control unit, S
1~Sm, Sy~Sy+2...Stator, SCy~SCy
+2...Stator control section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An article conveyance system comprising a conveyance path including a vertical conveyance portion, a carrier that moves on this conveyance path using a linear motor as a drive source to convey the article, and a controller that drives and controls the linear motor. . A control system for an article conveyance system, characterized in that the controller generates thrust of the linear motor only in an upward direction in a vertical conveyance portion of the conveyance path.