Power and free conveyor control method and conveyor
By setting up an item perception module and a box memory mechanism on the accumulation unit of the accumulation conveyor, the box connection phenomenon that may occur when the item size is small is solved, and more accurate and reliable accumulation control is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310906665.8
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-07-24
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-07
AI Technical Summary
The existing stacking roller conveyors may have box-connecting when the item size is small, because the photoelectric inductor cannot effectively sense the existence of the item.
A storage conveyor control method is adopted. By setting an item sensing module and a boxed memory mechanism on the storage unit, it is determined whether the storage unit is in a boxed state, and according to the previous and next station storage unit In the state, perform the in-box or out-box steps to avoid the phenomenon of connecting the boxes.
Even if the object size is small and is separated from the perception range of the sensing device, the conveyor can accurately judge the boxed state of the accumulation unit, avoid the occurrence of box connection, and improve the accuracy and reliability of the conveyor.
Smart Images
Figure CN119389709A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of conveyors, and in particular to a control method for an accumulation-and-release conveyor and a conveyor. Background Art
[0002] Accumulation roller conveyors can not only transport items, but also temporarily store items on the conveyor to prevent items from continuing to be transported and causing box-linking, thus adjusting the distance between items or the speed of items. The rollers can be driven by motors or electric rollers, and the accumulation method can be achieved by electronic control or by blocks.
[0003] Taking the electric-controlled accumulation roller conveyor as an example, the electric-controlled accumulation roller conveyor is generally composed of a control unit, several accumulation units and photoelectric sensors. Each accumulation unit is composed of a powered roller and several unpowered rollers. The control unit controls the rotation of the powered roller, thereby driving the unpowered roller, so that the items are transported from one accumulation unit to another. The photoelectric sensor is generally installed above the roller of the accumulation unit. When an item is transported to a certain accumulation unit, when the item stays in the accumulation unit, it is sensed by the photoelectric sensor and sends a signal to the control module. The control unit controls the corresponding powered roller to stop running, and the items in other accumulation units cannot enter the accumulation unit, thereby avoiding the phenomenon of connected boxes.
[0004] However, the existing accumulation type roller conveyor senses whether there are objects by blocking the light emitted by the photoelectric sensor. Therefore, when the size of the object is small, it is possible that the object is still on the accumulation type roller conveyor, but has not reached or exceeded the sensing position of the photoelectric sensor. At this time, the object stays there, and the photoelectric sensor cannot sense the object, which may cause a phenomenon of connected boxes. Summary of the invention
[0005] The present application provides a control method for an accumulation type conveyor and a conveyor, which can be used to solve the problem that when the size of the items is small, the accumulation type conveyor still has a box-linking phenomenon.
[0006] On the one hand, the present application provides a control method for a power-and-free conveyor, which is applied to the power-and-free conveyor, and the control method comprises the following steps: Obtain the item sensing signal and box presence marking signal of the accumulation unit to determine whether the accumulation unit is in a box presence state; If the current accumulation unit is in a box-free state, determine whether the previous accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in a box-filled state; If the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the no-box state, the current accumulation unit does not execute the box entry step; If the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state, the current accumulation unit executes the box loading step; If the current accumulation unit is in a box state, determine whether the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in a box state; If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the no-box state, the current accumulation unit executes the box-out step; If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state, the current accumulation unit does not execute the box entry step.
[0007] Further, the step of determining whether the accumulation unit is in a box state includes: When the accumulation unit has no object sensing signal, no box memory signal, and no box is entered, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box-free state; Or, when the accumulation unit has an item sensing signal or a box memory signal and is unloading a box, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box-free state; When the accumulation unit has an item sensing signal, a box memory signal, or is entering a box, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box state; Among them, the box memory signal means that the items of the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit are transported to the current accumulation unit, triggering the perception module of the current accumulation unit, and the control module marks the current accumulation unit as having a box.
[0008] Furthermore, the object sensing signal is obtained by a sensing module of the current accumulation unit, and the sensing module is arranged at the front position of the accumulation unit; When the object triggers the sensing module of the accumulation unit, the control module controls the accumulation unit to stop with a delay.
[0009] Furthermore, the control module controls the delayed parking of the accumulation unit, including: Set the delay time according to the size of the items and the conveyor's running speed; The control module controls the accumulation unit to delay parking according to the delay time.
[0010] In another aspect, the present application provides a conveyor, which performs accumulation control according to any one of the above-mentioned accumulation conveyor control methods; The conveyor at least comprises a control module, a conveying module and a sensing module, wherein the conveying module is composed of a plurality of accumulation units, and the sensing module is composed of a plurality of sensing devices, and the sensing devices are used to sense the objects on the accumulation units and obtain object sensing signals; The control module marks whether the accumulation unit is in a box state according to the object sensing signal, and controls the accumulation unit.
[0011] Furthermore, the conveyor also includes a DC unit module, and the control module controls the DC unit module to supply power to the roller driver of the accumulation unit, so as to drive the power roller of the accumulation unit to realize the loading, parking and unloading of the accumulation unit.
[0012] Furthermore, the accumulation unit is composed of a powered roller and a plurality of unpowered rollers; The power roller and the plurality of unpowered rollers are all rubber-coated rollers; The gap between the rollers is 1 / 10-3 / 10 of the roller diameter; The sensing device is arranged on the frame at the front 1 / 3 roller position.
[0013] Further, the control module includes a control unit, a gateway unit and a switch unit; The control unit is connected to the gateway unit and the switch unit respectively; Each circuit of the gateway unit is connected to a plurality of roller drivers, and each roller driver is used to drive 1 or 2 power rollers; The switch unit is used to connect the RFID reader, industrial code reader, host computer and IO remote of the conveyor.
[0014] Furthermore, the DC unit module includes a plurality of DC power cabinet units, each of the DC power cabinet units is connected to a plurality of AUX cables, and each AUX cable is connected to a plurality of the roller drivers.
[0015] Furthermore, the gateway unit adopts an ASI gateway, the sensing device and the power roller are connected to the roller driver via an ASI cable, and the roller driver is connected to the ASI gateway via an ASI cable.
[0016] The present application provides a control method for a power-and-free conveyor and a conveyor, which have the following beneficial effects: 1. By using the method provided in the present application, a box memory mechanism is added to the conveyor. Even when the conveyed items are small in size and out of the perception of the sensing device, it is still possible to determine whether there are items on the current accumulation unit, thereby avoiding the phenomenon of continuous boxes.
[0017] 2. The sensing device of the conveyor of the present application is arranged on the frame at the 1 / 3 roller position on the front side of the accumulation unit, which can detect the arrival of items at the current accumulation unit in advance, and is used for the control module to mark the current accumulation unit as having boxes in advance, thereby avoiding the failure to update the box status of the current accumulation unit in time.
[0018] 3. The present application also has a delayed parking mechanism. When the sensing device is set on the rack at the 1 / 3 roller position on the front side of the accumulation unit, if the current accumulation unit is stopped after the item triggers the sensing device, then if the item is large, it may not be completely put into the box, and if the item is small, the parking position of the item is too close to the front of the current accumulation unit. Therefore, delayed parking can ensure that not only the item can be completely put into the box, but also the item can be parked in the middle position of the current accumulation unit.
[0019] 4. The conveyor of the present application can use the ASI bus for the connection of the control unit, the gateway unit, the switch unit, the roller drive and other unit modules, without breaking the wire, and can be directly installed through the side. The object sensing device usually uses a photoelectric sensor, and the photoelectric sensor comes with an M8 plug that is directly plugged into the ASI of the roller drive, and the power roller comes with an M8 plug that is directly plugged into the ASI of the roller drive, which facilitates installation and later maintenance, and reduces the existing use of various specifications of cables used for remote IO, object sensing devices, roller drive cards, power rollers, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of a method for controlling a power-and-free conveyor of the present application;
[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the placement of an accumulation unit and an item sensing device of the present application; Figure 3 It is a network topology diagram of the conveyor of the present application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between a centralized control cabinet and a DC power supply cabinet of the conveyor of the present application; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the connection of a centralized control cabinet, a DC power supply cabinet, a roller drive and an accumulation unit of the conveyor of the present application; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the connection between a centralized control cabinet and a roller drive of the conveyor of the present application; Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the connection between an ASI and a roller drive of the conveyor of this application; Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the connection between a DC power supply cabinet 1 and a roller drive of the conveyor of the present application. Implementation
[0023] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation methods of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[0024] The implementation environment and hardware architecture described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of hardware architecture, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are equally applicable to similar technical problems in different implementation environments.
[0025] Let's first combine Figure 1 This paper introduces the control method of the accumulation conveyor in this application. Please refer to Figure 1 , which shows a control method for a power-and-free conveyor, which is applied to a power-and-free conveyor, and the control method comprises the following steps: The item sensing signal and the box presence marking signal of the accumulation unit are obtained to determine whether the accumulation unit is in a box presence state. The item sensing signal is obtained by the item sensing device on the accumulation unit. The common item sensing device can use a photoelectric sensor. Of course, laser radar, millimeter wave radar, ultrasonic radar, etc. can also be used to sense the items. The box presence marking signal is when the item triggers the sensing device to mark the accumulation unit as having a box, that is, the box presence marking signal. The box presence marking signal is not marked until the accumulation unit is unpacked or unpacked.
[0026] If the current accumulation unit is in the state of no box, it is determined whether the previous accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the state of box. According to the determination result, whether the current accumulation unit is allowed to enter the box and whether to execute the box entry step, there are two specific steps: (1) If the previous accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in an empty box state, the current accumulation unit will not execute the box entry step, that is, there is no item on the previous accumulation unit, and no item enters the current accumulation unit when the current accumulation unit executes the box entry step. Therefore, you can choose to park the current accumulation unit, or let the current accumulation unit run empty. In addition, in this case, the current accumulation unit can be allowed to enter the box.
[0027] (2) If the previous station of the current accumulation unit is in a box state, the current accumulation unit will execute the box entry step, that is, there are items on the previous station accumulation unit. Since the current accumulation unit is in a box-free state, the current accumulation unit can execute the box entry step to transport the items of the previous station accumulation unit to the current accumulation unit. When the current accumulation unit is in the box entry step, the current accumulation unit can be marked as having a box state. Of course, the current accumulation unit can also be marked as having a box state when the item triggers the item sensor of the current accumulation unit. When the current accumulation unit is marked as having a box state, the current accumulation unit is not allowed to enter the box, that is, after executing this box entry step, the current accumulation unit is no longer allowed to enter the box.
[0028] If the current accumulation unit is in the box state, it is determined whether the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state. According to the determination result, whether the current accumulation unit is allowed to unload the box and whether to execute the unloading step, there are two specific steps: (1) If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box-free state, the current accumulation unit executes the box-out step; That is, if there are no items on the next station accumulation unit and the current accumulation unit allows unloading, the current accumulation unit will perform the unloading step, that is, the items in the current accumulation unit can be transported to the next station accumulation unit. When the items are being transported to the next station accumulation unit or are completely transported to the next station accumulation unit, the current accumulation unit is marked as no box state, and the current accumulation unit can be allowed to enter the box.
[0029] (2) If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state, the current accumulation unit does not execute the box loading step.
[0030] That is, there are items on the next station's accumulation unit. Since there are also items on the current accumulation unit, the current accumulation unit is not allowed to unload. The current accumulation unit is still in a box state, and the current accumulation unit is not allowed to load.
[0031] Therefore, using the method provided in the present application, a box memory mechanism is added to the conveyor. Even when the conveyed items are small in size and out of the perception of the sensing device, it is still possible to determine whether there are items on the current accumulation unit, the previous station accumulation unit, and the next station accumulation unit based on the box memory signal. The accumulation unit then executes the steps of entering, stopping, and unloading the box accordingly, avoiding the phenomenon of continuous boxes.
[0032] In another possible design, the determination of whether the accumulation unit is in a box state includes: when the accumulation unit has no item sensing signal, no box memory signal and no box entering, the accumulation unit is determined to be in a box-free state; or, when the accumulation unit has an item sensing signal or a box memory signal and is unloading a box, the accumulation unit is determined to be in a box-free state. It should be pointed out that in this case, when the accumulation unit is unloading a box, the accumulation unit is marked as in a box-free state, and the box-entering step cannot be executed immediately. It is necessary to wait until the unloading step is completed before executing the box-entering step.
[0033] When the stacking unit has an item sensing signal, a box memory signal, or is entering a box, the stacking unit is judged to be in a box state; that is, when the stacking unit has an item sensing signal, it indicates that the stacking unit is in a box state, or when the stacking unit has a box memory signal, it indicates that the stacking unit is in a box state, but it can also be indicated that the stacking unit is in a box state when the stacking unit is entering a box. Among them, the box memory signal refers to the item of the stacking unit at the previous station of the current stacking unit being transported to the current stacking unit, triggering the sensing module of the current stacking unit, and the control module marks the current stacking unit as having a box.
[0034] In another possible design, the object sensing signal is obtained through the sensing module of the current accumulation unit, and the sensing module is set at the front position of the accumulation unit; when the object triggers the sensing module of the accumulation unit, the control module controls the accumulation unit to delay parking. When the sensing device is set on the rack at the roller position on the front side of the accumulation unit, if the current accumulation unit stops after the object triggers the sensing device, then if the object is large, it may not be completely loaded into the box, and if the object is small, the parking position of the object is too close to the front of the current accumulation unit. Therefore, delayed parking can ensure that not only the object can be completely loaded into the box, but also the object can be parked in the middle position of the current accumulation unit. Specifically, the control module controls the delayed parking of the accumulation unit, including: setting the delay time according to the size of the object and the running speed of the conveyor; the control module controls the delayed parking of the accumulation unit according to the delay time. For example, when the conveyor runs slowly, a longer delay time is set, and when the conveyor runs quickly, a shorter delay time is set. When the object is large, a longer delay time is set to ensure that the large object can be completely parked on the accumulation unit. When the object is small, a shorter delay time can be set so that the object can also be parked on the accumulation unit.
[0035] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application. It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to the execution of each function are included. In combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiment disclosed in this application, the embodiment of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application.
[0036] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functions such as control, delivery and perception into functional units according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is schematic and is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.
[0037] On the other hand, the present application provides a conveyor, the structure of which can be seen in Figure 2-Figure 8 The schematic diagram shown in the figure introduces some terms in this application before explaining the conveyor in this application: ASI: ASI (Actuator-Sensor-Interface) is the abbreviation of Actuator-Sensor-Interface. It is a bus network used for bidirectional information exchange between the controller (master station) and the sensor / actuator (slave station). It belongs to the underlying monitoring network system under the fieldbus.
[0038] Profinet bus: It is a new generation of automation bus standard based on industrial Ethernet technology.
[0039] Accumulation and release: Through orderly "accumulation" and "release", the goods can be stopped and temporarily stored on the designated conveying section. A straight section or a turning section is also called an accumulation and release.
[0040] PLC: Programmable Controller.
[0041] ASI Gateway: ASI master station, collects and controls ASI slave modules, and converts ASI protocol to Profinet, EtherCAT, CanOpen and other fieldbus protocols.
[0042] ASI roller driver: It belongs to the ASI slave module, occupies 1 slave address, and can connect photoelectric sensors and drive power rollers.
[0043] Continuous box phenomenon: When a turnover box or package has stopped in an accumulation stack, but boxes are still being loaded continuously, it is called continuous box phenomenon.
[0044] The conveyor of the present application performs accumulation control according to any one of the above-mentioned accumulation conveyor control methods. The conveyor at least includes a control module, a conveying module and a sensing module. The conveying module is composed of a plurality of accumulation units. The sensing module is composed of a plurality of sensing devices. The sensing devices are used to sense the items on the accumulation units and obtain item sensing signals. The control module marks whether the accumulation units are in a box state according to the item sensing signals, and controls the accumulation units. Specifically, the structural diagram of the control module can be found in Figure 3As shown in the schematic diagram, the control module of the present application can adopt a centralized control cabinet. The conveying module shown includes a plurality of accumulation units, each of which is composed of a powered roller and a plurality of unpowered rollers. The control unit controls the rotation of the powered roller, thereby driving the unpowered roller, so that the items are transported from one accumulation unit to another accumulation unit. It should be noted that the present application refers to the three consecutive accumulation units as the previous station accumulation unit, the current accumulation unit and the next station accumulation unit, that is, after the previous station accumulation unit performs the unpacking step, the items of the previous station accumulation unit are transported to the current accumulation unit, and after the current accumulation unit performs the unpacking step, the items of the current accumulation unit are transported to the next station accumulation unit. The sensing module usually adopts a photoelectric sensor, and of course, laser radar, millimeter wave radar, ultrasonic radar, etc. can also be used to sense the items.
[0045] A preferred accumulation unit structure and its positional relationship with the sensing module are as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the accumulation unit is composed of a powered roller and several unpowered rollers, and the powered roller and the unpowered rollers are all rubber-coated rollers; the gap between the rollers is 1 / 10-3 / 10 of the roller diameter; the sensing device is arranged on the frame at the front 1 / 3 roller position. This application takes a single accumulation unit with a length of 720mm as an example. The accumulation unit includes 1 rubber-coated powered roller, 11 rubber-coated unpowered rollers, 1 mirror reflection photoelectric sensor and 1 reflector powered roller. The diameter of the unpowered roller is generally 50mm, and the installation spacing between the rollers is preferably 10mm. Reducing the spacing can increase the contact area and prevent the package from falling through the gap of the roller. The rubber-coated roller can increase friction and prevent the package from slipping. The photoelectric sensor is installed on the frame between the 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th rollers, which can detect in advance that the package has arrived at the current accumulation unit, so that the control module can mark the current accumulation unit as having a box in advance, thereby avoiding the failure to update the box status of the current accumulation unit in time. Otherwise, it will affect the current accumulation unit to execute the box entry step, and it will also affect the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit to execute the box exit step.
[0046] The conveyor also includes a DC unit module, and the control module controls the DC unit module to supply power to the roller driver of the accumulation unit, which is used to drive the power roller of the accumulation unit to achieve the loading, parking and unloading of the accumulation unit. The DC unit module of the present application adopts a DC power supply cabinet, which usually adopts a single AC220V power supply, and outputs DC24V DC power for the roller driver through the power switch. A centralized control cabinet can control several DC power supply cabinets, such as Figure 4The schematic diagram shown in the figure is only an example of the number of DC power supply cabinets controlled by the centralized control cabinet in the present application. The number and connection relationship of the centralized control cabinets and DC power supply cabinets can be set according to the specifications and power of the DC power supply cabinets, as well as the number and power of the roller drives and other factors.
[0047] A preferred connection relationship and working principle between the various components of the conveyor of this application can be found in Figures 5 to 8 Schematic diagram shown. One preferred solution is that the control module includes a control unit, a gateway unit and a switch unit; the control unit is connected to the gateway unit and the switch unit respectively; each circuit of the gateway unit is connected to a number of roller drivers, and each roller driver is used to drive 1 or 2 power rollers; the switch unit is used to connect the RFID reader, industrial code reader, host computer and IO remote of the conveyor. The control unit can be a PLC or a processor with programmable functions such as FPGA. The gateway unit is preferably an ASI gateway. Of course, the ASI gateway and switch can also be replaced with other devices with the same or similar functions. PLC and ASI gateway use Profinet protocol, industrial code reader uses Profinet protocol, remote IO uses Profinet protocol, RFID reader uses Profinet protocol, switch uses TCP / IP protocol, and host computer uses UDP protocol.
[0048] The DC unit module includes several DC power cabinet units, each of which is connected to several AUX cables, and each AUX cable is connected to several roller drivers. The gateway unit adopts an ASI gateway, and the sensing device and the power roller are connected to the roller driver via an ASI cable. The roller driver is preferably an ASI roller driver, which can be connected to the ASI gateway via an ASI cable. A specific preferred implementation scheme can be found in Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Figure 8As shown in the schematic diagram, this application is based on the existing common device specifications as an example. Generally, one centralized control cabinet can provide power for five DC power cabinets. Generally, the C1 circuit of the dual-circuit ASI gateway can connect 62 ASI slave stations, and the C2 circuit can connect 62 ASI slave stations. Each ASI roller drive driver is an ASI slave station, so one dual-circuit ASI gateway can connect 124 ASI roller drives. A flat ASI cable is used from the ASI gateway to the ASI roller drive, and a flat AUX cable is used from the DC power cabinet to the ASI roller drive. Each DC power cabinet can power 25 ASI roller drives, each AUX cable can connect 5 roller drives, and each DC power cabinet can connect up to 5 AUX cables. When installing the ASI roller drive, the flat cable is pierced by a probe to connect the AUX cable and the ASI cable. The photoelectric sensor is connected to the driver through the wiring harness of the built-in M8 four-pin plug, and the power roller is connected to the roller drive through the wiring harness of the built-in M8 five-pin plug. The slave address is marked on each ASI roller drive for easy installation and debugging. One ASI roller drive can connect the photoelectric sensors and power rollers of two accumulation units, and one dual-circuit ASI gateway can connect up to 248 accumulation units. Of course, the above is an example of the specification of an existing electrical component. When other models or specifications of devices are selected, the number of DC power cabinets that can be powered by the centralized control cabinet is different, the number of DC power cabinets connected to the ASI roller drive is also different, and the ASI roller drive is different from the connected accumulation units. Therefore, this application only uses the preferred solution as an example.
[0049] In summary, the conveyor of the present application has the following advantages: The conveyor of the present application can convey both turnover boxes and packages. Even if the package is separated from the photoelectric device during operation, the current box status of the accumulation can be memorized, and no box connection occurs. Using ASI cable, the module installation does not need to break the wire, and it can be directly installed through the side. The photoelectric sensor comes with an M8 plug and is directly plugged into the ASI roller driver, and the power roller comes with an M8 plug and is directly plugged into the ASI roller driver. It is convenient for installation and later maintenance. Reduce the various specifications of cables used for the existing use of remote IO+photoelectric sensors and (roller drive card+electric roller). The conveyor uses direct current, and the DC24V voltage is a safe voltage, which is safer for people. Debugging is more convenient, and the slave address has been marked on each ASI electric roller driver for easy debugging and later maintenance. When a particularly small package stops on the accumulation, it has been separated from the photoelectric device. Because the control has added a box memory, the accumulation unit is no longer allowed to enter the box, and no box connection occurs.
[0050] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the technology in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by means of software plus the necessary hardware platform. Based on this understanding, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a storage medium such as ROM / RAM, a disk, an optical disk, etc., including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present invention or some parts of the embodiments.
[0051] In addition, in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more than two. In addition, in order to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used without limiting the quantity and execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit them to be different. The above-described implementation methods of the present application do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the present application.
Claims
1. A control method for a power-and-free conveyor, applied to a power-and-free conveyor, characterized in that: The control method comprises the following steps: Obtain the item sensing signal and box presence marking signal of the accumulation unit to determine whether the accumulation unit is in a box presence state; If the current accumulation unit is in a box-free state, determine whether the previous accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in a box-filled state; If the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the no-box state, the current accumulation unit does not execute the box entry step; If the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state, the current accumulation unit executes the box loading step; If the current accumulation unit is in a box state, determine whether the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in a box state; If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the no-box state, the current accumulation unit executes the box-out step; If the next station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit is in the box state, the current accumulation unit does not execute the box entry step.
2. The method for controlling a power-and-free conveyor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of judging whether the accumulation unit is in a box-filled state comprises: When the accumulation unit has no object sensing signal, no box memory signal, and no box is entered, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box-free state; Or, when the accumulation unit has an item sensing signal or a box memory signal and is unloading a box, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box-free state; When the accumulation unit has an item sensing signal, a box memory signal, or is entering a box, the accumulation unit is judged to be in a box state; Among them, the box memory signal means that the items of the previous station accumulation unit of the current accumulation unit are transported to the current accumulation unit, triggering the perception module of the current accumulation unit, and the control module marks the current accumulation unit as having a box.
3. The control method of the accumulation conveyor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The object sensing signal is obtained by a sensing module of the current accumulation unit, and the sensing module is set at the front position of the accumulation unit; When the object triggers the sensing module of the accumulation unit, the control module controls the accumulation unit to stop with a delay.
4. The control method of a power-free conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The control module controls the delayed parking of the accumulation unit including: Set the delay time according to the size of the items and the conveyor's running speed; The control module controls the accumulation unit to delay parking according to the delay time.
5. A conveyor, characterized in that: The conveyor performs accumulation control according to the accumulation conveyor control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4; The conveyor at least comprises a control module, a conveying module and a sensing module, wherein the conveying module is composed of a plurality of accumulation units, and the sensing module is composed of a plurality of sensing devices, and the sensing devices are used to sense the objects on the accumulation units and obtain object sensing signals; The control module marks whether the accumulation unit is in a box state according to the object sensing signal, and controls the accumulation unit.
6. The conveyor according to claim 5, characterized in that The conveyor also includes a DC unit module, and the control module controls the DC unit module to supply power to the roller driver of the accumulation unit, so as to drive the power roller of the accumulation unit to realize the loading, parking and unloading of the accumulation unit.
7. The conveyor according to claim 6, characterized in that The accumulation unit is composed of a powered roller and a plurality of unpowered rollers; The power roller and the plurality of unpowered rollers are all rubber-coated rollers; The gap between the rollers is 1 / 10-3 / 10 of the roller diameter; The sensing device is arranged on the frame at the front 1 / 3 roller position.
8. The conveyor according to claim 7, characterized in that The control module includes a control unit, a gateway unit and a switch unit; The control unit is connected to the gateway unit and the switch unit respectively; Each circuit of the gateway unit is connected to a plurality of roller drivers, and each roller driver is used to drive 1 or 2 power rollers; The switch unit is used to connect the RFID reader, industrial code reader, host computer and IO remote of the conveyor.
9. The conveyor according to claim 8, characterized in that The DC unit module includes a plurality of DC power cabinet units, each of the DC power cabinet units is connected to a plurality of AUX cables, and each AUX cable is connected to a plurality of the roller drivers.
10. The conveyor according to claim 9, characterized in that The gateway unit adopts an ASI gateway, the sensing device and the power roller are connected to the roller driver via an ASI cable, and the roller driver is connected to the ASI gateway via an ASI cable.