Vehicle body conveying method and system

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle body conveying method and system, and the method comprises the steps: obtaining the feature information of a to-be-conveyed vehicle body in a vehicle body production line, and controlling a roller bed to move according to the feature information; comprising the steps that the conveying direction of part of the roller beds in the multiple roller beds is adjusted, and part of the roller beds are controlled to move according to the adjusted conveying direction. The conveying direction of part of the roller beds can be adjusted according to the feature information of the to-be-conveyed vehicle body in the vehicle body production line, the part of the roller beds are controlled to move in the adjusted conveying direction, and smooth line changing production of important vehicle types can be guaranteed in time when the vehicle body production line has equipment failure or shutdown maintenance. By adjusting the conveying directions of part of the roller beds, two vehicle body production lines can be subjected to cross control, so that mutual flowing of vehicle bodies in a plurality of workshops in the vehicle body production lines is realized. According to the invention, the safety risk and high cost caused by manual hand pushing during equipment failure or shutdown maintenance in the vehicle body production line can be avoided, and no beat loss exists.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of vehicles, and in particular to a vehicle body conveying method and system. Background Art

[0002] In the current automobile production field, skids are often used to transport car bodies between workshops (welding and painting, painting and assembly) in automobile factories. In actual applications, this type of transportation method has a long conveyor line, and each conveyor line has a skid specifically used to carry the car body.

[0003] At present, a considerable number of factories have two complete production lines. Generally speaking, these two lines usually operate independently of each other, that is, the car bodies produced follow "Production Line 1: Online → Welding Shop X → Painting Shop X → Assembly Shop X → Offline; Production Line 2: Online → Welding Shop Y → Painting Shop Y → Assembly Shop Y → Offline". In special cases, when a major equipment failure occurs in a workshop on a production line, or it needs to be shut down for maintenance, since each workshop is operating on a single line, the production line may be completely shut down, wasting production capacity to a great extent. It will also affect the production progress and bring certain economic losses to the company. For example, in the case of a traffic control design, if there is a problem with the sensor on the production line, it will cause a dangerous situation of collision between the conveying car bodies, and its safety is obviously insufficient.

[0004] In addition, for some factories, if a production line has equipment failure or is shut down for maintenance, the existing method may be to manually use a floor cart to transfer to another production line. However, the manual use of floor carts is extremely cumbersome, the number of carts is seriously insufficient, a large amount of manpower is required, and the safety risk is extremely high, which seriously reduces the production rhythm. Therefore, how to improve the flexibility of the production line and reduce the situation of full-line shutdowns caused by equipment failure or shutdown maintenance is an important issue that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body conveying method and system for solving the technical problems existing in the related art.

[0006] To achieve the above object and other related objects, the present invention provides a vehicle body conveying method, the method comprising the following steps:

[0007] Acquire characteristic information of a vehicle body to be conveyed in a vehicle body production line, wherein the characteristic information includes vehicle model information;

[0008] Controlling the movement of the roller bed according to the characteristic information includes: adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds among the plurality of roller beds, and controlling the some roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, the roller bed capable of adjusting direction among the plurality of roller beds is a rotating roller bed; adjusting the conveying direction of some of the roller beds among the plurality of roller beds and controlling the some of the roller beds to move in the adjusted conveying direction specifically includes:

[0010] When the vehicle body to be transported reaches the rotating roller bed, determining the next roller bed according to the characteristic information;

[0011] comparing the current conveying direction of the rotating roller bed with the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed;

[0012] If the current conveying direction of the rotating roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the rotating roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the current conveying direction;

[0013] If the current conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is different from the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is adjusted until the adjusted conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, and the rotary roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the adjusted conveying direction.

[0014] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

[0015] Obtaining the fixed number of sleds, the dynamic number of sleds and the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line at the current moment;

[0016] If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is less than the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sleds returned after the body transportation is completed are transported to the exit of the body production line, so that the dynamic number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment remains unchanged;

[0017] If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is greater than or equal to the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line are transported to the exit of another body production line, and the first value is added to the dynamic number of sleds of the other body production line; and when a body to be transported in the body production line arrives at the delivery point of the body production line, the empty sled returned after the body transportation is completed is transported to the buffer area of ​​the body production line, and the first value is subtracted from the dynamic number of sleds of the body production line according to the number of times the sleds enter the buffer area of ​​the body production line.

[0018] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

[0019] When a certain car body to be transported entering from the car body production line passes through a preset roller bed, a second value is subtracted from the dynamic quantity of the sled in the car body production line; wherein the preset roller bed includes a rotating roller bed among a plurality of roller beds;

[0020] When a body to be transported in the body production line arrives at the exit of the body production line, a second value is added to the dynamic quantity of the sled in the body production line.

[0021] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

[0022] The preparation time before the first body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the first time; and the preparation time before the second body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the second time; wherein the conveying direction of the first body to be transported includes conveying from the first body production line to the second body production line, and the conveying direction of the second body to be transported includes conveying from the second body production line to the first body production line; the preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions;

[0023] Based on the comparison results of the first time and the second time and the roller bed gap detection result, cross-conveying control is performed on the first and second vehicle bodies to be transported in the preset area; wherein the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

[0024] The present invention also provides a vehicle body conveying system, the system comprising:

[0025] Multiple roller beds for conveying the car bodies to be conveyed in the car body production line;

[0026] A radio frequency identification reader / writer, installed on some or all of the plurality of roller beds, for writing, reading or erasing characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported;

[0027] A programmable logic controller is electrically connected to the multiple roller beds and the radio frequency identification reader / writer, respectively, and is used to control the radio frequency identification reader / writer to write, read or erase the characteristic information; and control the movement of the multiple roller beds according to the characteristic information, including: adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds among the multiple roller beds, and controlling the movement of the some roller beds according to the adjusted conveying direction.

[0028] In one embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises:

[0029] A photoelectric sensor is electrically connected to the programmable logic controller and is used to detect the gap between the roller beds in a preset area and transmit the roller bed gap detection result to the programmable logic controller, so that the programmable logic controller performs cross-conveying control on the vehicle body to be conveyed according to the roller bed gap detection result and the preparation time before the vehicle body to be conveyed enters the preset area;

[0030] The preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions, and the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

[0031] In one embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises:

[0032] A sled is configured as a conveying carrier, and the body to be conveyed in the body production line is located above the sled; wherein the roller bed conveys the body to be conveyed by conveying the sled; and,

[0033] A radio frequency identification tag carrier, mounted on the sled, for storing characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported; the characteristic information includes vehicle model information;

[0034] And / or, a touch screen is electrically connected to the programmable logic controller and is used to display the status of the sled, the multiple roller beds, the radio frequency identification reader / writer, the programmable logic controller and the preset area.

[0035] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of roller beds include:

[0036] A plurality of conventional roller beds for conveying the skid in the initial conveying direction;

[0037] At least one rotating roller bed, the input end and the output end of the rotating roller bed are respectively connected to ordinary roller beds, and the rotating roller bed is used to change the conveying direction of the sled;

[0038] When the rotating roller bed changes the conveying direction of the slide, the conveying direction of the slide on the previous common roller bed and the next common roller bed is different;

[0039] Wherein, the upper common roller bed is a common roller bed connected to the input end of the rotating roller bed, and the next common roller bed is a common roller bed connected to the output end of the rotating roller bed.

[0040] In one embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency identification reader / writer comprises:

[0041] A first radio frequency identification reader / writer, disposed on the first roller bed, for writing the characteristic information;

[0042] A second RFID reader / writer is disposed on the second roller bed and is used to erase the characteristic information;

[0043] A third radio frequency identification reader / writer is arranged on all or part of the roller beds except the first roller bed and the second roller bed, and is used to read the characteristic information;

[0044] Wherein, the first roller bed comprises a common roller bed for receiving the vehicle body to be transported at the entrance of the vehicle body production line, and the second roller bed comprises a common roller bed for outputting the vehicle body to be transported at the exit of the vehicle body production line.

[0045] As described above, the present invention provides a vehicle body conveying method and system, which has the following beneficial effects: the present invention can adjust the conveying direction of part of the roller beds according to the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be conveyed in the vehicle body production line, and control this part of the roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction, so that when there is equipment failure or shutdown for maintenance in the vehicle body production line, it can timely ensure the smooth line change production of more important vehicle models. At the same time, by adjusting the conveying direction of part of the roller beds, the present invention can cross-control two vehicle body production lines, thereby realizing the mutual flow of vehicle bodies in multiple workshops in the vehicle body production line. Therefore, the present invention can avoid the safety risks and high costs of manual pushing caused by equipment failure or shutdown for maintenance in the vehicle body production line, and there is no beat loss. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of hardware connections of a vehicle body conveying system provided in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a process flow of a vehicle body conveying method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the body conveying principle provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a cross control principle provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the empty skid balancing principle provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a traffic control area provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] The following describes the embodiments of the present invention by specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

[0053] It should be noted that the illustrations provided in this embodiment are only used to schematically illustrate the basic concept of the present invention. Therefore, the figures only show components related to the present invention rather than being drawn according to the number, shape and size of components in actual implementation. In actual implementation, the shape, quantity and proportion of each component may be changed arbitrarily, and the component layout may also be more complicated.

[0054] Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of hardware connection of a vehicle body conveying system provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, in an exemplary embodiment, Figure 1 As shown, a vehicle body conveying system is provided, and the vehicle body conveying system includes:

[0055] A plurality of roller beds are used to transport the car bodies to be transported in the car body production line. In this embodiment or other embodiments, the plurality of roller beds may include: a plurality of ordinary roller beds, used to transport the slide in the initial transport direction; the slide is configured as a transport carrier, and the car body to be transported in the car body production line is located above the slide; wherein the roller bed transports the car body to be transported by transporting the slide. At least one rotating roller bed, the input end and the output end of the rotating roller bed are respectively connected to ordinary roller beds, and the rotating roller bed is used to change the transport direction of the slide; wherein the rotating roller bed can be a roller bed capable of adjusting the direction; when the rotating roller bed adjusts the direction, the slide transported by the rotating roller bed will also adjust the corresponding transport direction. When the rotating roller bed changes the transport direction of the slide, the slide is not the same in the transport direction of the previous ordinary roller bed and the next ordinary roller bed; when the rotating roller bed does not change the transport direction of the slide, the slide is the same in the transport direction of the previous ordinary roller bed and the next ordinary roller bed. wherein the previous ordinary roller bed is an ordinary roller bed connected to the input end of the rotating roller bed, and the next ordinary roller bed is an ordinary roller bed connected to the output end of the rotating roller bed.

[0056] Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers are installed on some or all of the multiple roller beds, and are used to write, read or erase characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported. As an example, in this embodiment or other embodiments, some or all of the common roller beds among the multiple roller beds are installed with RFID readers; and / or some or all of the rotating roller beds among the multiple roller beds are installed with RFID readers.

[0057] A programmable logic controller (PLC) is electrically connected to a plurality of roller beds and a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader / writer, respectively, and is used to control the radio frequency identification (RFID) reader / writer to write, read or erase characteristic information; and to control the movement of a plurality of roller beds according to the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported, including: adjusting the conveying direction of some of the plurality of roller beds, and controlling the roller beds to move in the adjusted conveying direction. In this embodiment or other embodiments, the programmable logic controller may also control the plurality of roller beds to move in the initial conveying direction according to the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported. In this embodiment or other embodiments, when the vehicle body to be transported above the sled passes through some or all of the plurality of roller beds, the PLC may also calculate the number of empty sleds; wherein an empty sled is a sled that does not carry a vehicle body to be transported. In this embodiment or other embodiments, the PLC may also control the movement of a plurality of roller beds according to the roller bed gap detection result transmitted by the photoelectric sensor, so as to perform cross-conveying control on the vehicle body to be transported within a preset area. Among them, the preset area may be formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions, and the preset area may also be referred to as a traffic control area. The traffic control area is such as Figure 4 and Figure 6 shown.

[0058] According to the above records, in an exemplary embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle body conveying system may further include:

[0059] A photoelectric sensor is electrically connected to the PLC and is used to detect the gap between the roller beds in a preset area and transmit the roller bed gap detection result to the PLC, so that the programmable logic controller can perform cross-conveying control on the vehicle body to be conveyed according to the roller bed gap detection result and the preparation time before the vehicle body to be conveyed enters the preset area; wherein the preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions, and the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

[0060] According to the above records, in an exemplary embodiment, if Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle body conveying system may further include:

[0061] The radio frequency identification (RFID) carrier is installed on the skid and is used to store the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported; the characteristic information includes vehicle model information, etc.

[0062] And / or, a touch screen is electrically connected to the PLC and is used to display the status of the sled, the plurality of roller beds, the radio frequency identification RFID reader / writer, the PLC and the preset areas.

[0063] According to the above records, in an exemplary embodiment, the RFID reader / writer includes: a first RFID reader / writer, which is arranged on the first roller bed and is used to write characteristic information; a second RFID reader / writer, which is arranged on the second roller bed and is used to erase characteristic information; a third RFID reader / writer, which is arranged on all or part of the roller beds except the first roller bed and the second roller bed and is used to read characteristic information; wherein the first roller bed includes a common roller bed when receiving the car body to be transported at the entrance of the car body production line, and the second roller bed includes a common roller bed when outputting the car body to be transported at the exit of the car body production line. In this embodiment or other embodiments, after the third RFID reader / writer reads the characteristic information, it can be transmitted to the PLC, and the PLC determines the transport direction of the rotating roller bed.

[0064] In summary, the present invention can provide a car body conveying system, which can adjust the conveying direction of some roller beds through the PLC in the car body conveying system, and control the movement of these roller beds in the adjusted conveying direction, so that when there is equipment failure or shutdown maintenance in the car body production line, it can timely ensure the smooth line change production of more important models. At the same time, by adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds through PLC, the two car body production lines can be cross-controlled, so as to realize the mutual flow of car bodies in multiple workshops in the car body production line. Therefore, the car body conveying system can avoid the safety risks and high costs of manual pushing caused by equipment failure or shutdown maintenance in the car body production line, and there is no beat loss. In addition, the car body conveying system can adopt the design of rotating roller beds and traffic control at the intersection of roller beds, and disperse the beat required to be achieved at one point to each device, reducing the demand for a single device under high beat. At the same time, the car body conveying system detects the gap between roller beds through photoelectric sensors, avoiding the collision risk of roller beds under traffic control. In addition, the car body conveying system can dynamically balance the number of skids by calculating the number of empty skids, thereby dynamically and real-time adjusting the car body conveying process.

[0065] In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 As shown, a vehicle body conveying method is provided, and the vehicle body conveying method comprises the following steps:

[0066] S210, acquiring characteristic information of a vehicle body to be conveyed in the vehicle body production line, the characteristic information including vehicle model information;

[0067] S220, controlling the movement of the roller beds according to the characteristic information, including: adjusting the conveying direction of some of the roller beds among the plurality of roller beds, and controlling the part of the roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction.

[0068] According to the above records, in an exemplary embodiment, the roller bed capable of adjusting direction among the plurality of roller beds is a rotating roller bed; step S220 adjusts the conveying direction of some of the roller beds among the plurality of roller beds, and controls the movement of some of the roller beds according to the adjusted conveying direction specifically includes:

[0069] When the vehicle body to be transported reaches the rotating roller bed, the next roller bed is determined according to the characteristic information;

[0070] Comparing the current conveying direction of the rotating roller bed with the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed;

[0071] If the current conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the rotary roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the current conveying direction;

[0072] If the current conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is different from the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is adjusted until the adjusted conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, and the rotary roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the adjusted conveying direction.

[0073] According to the above records, in a specific embodiment, for the body production line A (also referred to as the A line) and the body production line B (also referred to as the B line), the corresponding body conveying process is as follows: Figure 3 and Figure 4 shown. Specifically,

[0074] As a first example: A line to A line loop.

[0075] a1), when the empty skid of Line A arrives at the vehicle receiving point of Line A, the PLC in the previous process exchanges the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported with the PLC in the transport system. The PLC in the transport system writes the characteristic information into the empty skid through the RIFD reader / writer, and the vehicle receiving is completed at the same time;

[0076] b1), the current body to be transported is transported to the rotating roller bed A through the body line A entrance and stops;

[0077] c1), the RIFD reader on the rotating roller bed A reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the conveying system;

[0078] d1), the PLC in the conveying system determines that the vehicle body to be conveyed should be conveyed to the buffer area of ​​line A based on the vehicle model information in the characteristic information;

[0079] e1), the rotating roller bed A transports the current vehicle body to be transported to the common roller bed L;

[0080] f1), after the current body to be transported is transported to the rotary roller bed B, the RIFD reader on the rotary roller bed B reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the transport system, which saves the information as the passing point information of the current body to be transported entering the buffer area of ​​line A;

[0081] g1), after the current body to be transported passes through the buffer area of ​​line A, it enters the next workshop and sends out the current body to be transported at the delivery point of line A. After the empty skid is stacked at the skid stacking point of line A (every 3 empty skids are stacked together), it returns through the empty skid balancing system, unstacking at the skid unstacking point of line A / B, and then waits for the vehicle to be received at the vehicle receiving point of line A / B. Whether it returns to line A or line B is dynamically balanced by the empty skid balancing system.

[0082] As a second example: Line A to Line B loop.

[0083] a2) When the empty skid of Line A arrives at the vehicle receiving point of Line A, the PLC in the previous process exchanges the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported with the PLC in the transport system. The PLC in the transport system writes the characteristic information into the empty skid through the RIFD reader / writer, and the vehicle receiving is completed at the same time;

[0084] b2), the current body to be transported is transported to the rotating roller bed A through the body line A entrance and stops;

[0085] c2), the RIFD reader on the rotating roller bed A reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the conveying system;

[0086] d2), the PLC in the conveying system determines that the vehicle body to be conveyed should be conveyed to the B-line buffer area based on the vehicle model information in the characteristic information;

[0087] e2), the rotating roller bed A transports the current vehicle body to be transported to the common roller bed M;

[0088] f2), after the current body to be transported passes through the traffic control area and is transported to the rotary roller bed F, the RIFD reader / writer on the rotary roller bed F reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the transport system, which saves the information as the passing point information of the current body to be transported entering the buffer area of ​​line B;

[0089] g2), after the current body to be transported passes through the buffer area of ​​line B, it enters the next workshop and sends out the current body to be transported at the delivery point of line B. After the empty skid is stacked at the skid stacking point of line B (every 3 empty skids are stacked together), it returns through the empty skid balancing system, unstacking at the skid unstacking point of line A / B, and then goes to the vehicle receiving point of line A / B to wait for the vehicle to be received. Whether it returns to line A or line B is dynamically balanced by the empty skid balancing system.

[0090] As a third example: a B-line to B-line loop.

[0091] a3) When the empty skid of Line B arrives at the vehicle receiving point of Line B, the PLC in the previous process exchanges the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported with the PLC in the transport system. The PLC in the transport system writes the characteristic information into the empty skid through the RIFD reader / writer, and the vehicle receiving is completed at the same time;

[0092] b3), the current body to be transported is transported to the rotating roller bed E through the body line B entrance and stops;

[0093] c3), the RIFD reader on the rotating roller bed E reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the conveying system;

[0094] d3), the PLC in the conveying system determines that the vehicle body to be conveyed should be conveyed to the B-line buffer area based on the vehicle model information in the characteristic information;

[0095] e3), the rotating roller bed E transports the current vehicle body to be transported to the common roller bed O;

[0096] f3), after the current body to be transported is transported to the rotary roller bed F, the RIFD reader / writer on the rotary roller bed F reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the transport system, which saves the information as the passing point information of the body entering the buffer area of ​​line B;

[0097] g3), after the current body to be transported passes through the buffer area of ​​line B, it enters the next workshop and sends out the current body to be transported at the delivery point of line B. After the empty skid is stacked at the skid stacking point of line B (every 3 empty skids are stacked together), it returns through the empty skid balancing system, unstacking at the skid unstacking point of line A / B, and then waits for the vehicle to be received at the vehicle receiving point of line A / B. Whether it returns to line A or line B is dynamically balanced by the empty skid balancing system.

[0098] As a fourth example: Line B to Line A loop.

[0099] a4) When the empty skid of Line B arrives at the vehicle receiving point of Line B, the PLC in the previous process exchanges the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported with the PLC in the transport system. The PLC in the transport system writes the characteristic information into the empty skid through the RIFD reader / writer, and the vehicle receiving is completed at the same time;

[0100] b4), the current body to be transported is transported to the rotating roller bed E through the body line B entrance and stops;

[0101] c4), the RIFD reader on the rotating roller bed E reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the conveying system;

[0102] d4), the PLC in the conveying system determines that the vehicle body to be conveyed should be conveyed to the B-line buffer area based on the vehicle model information in the characteristic information;

[0103] e4), the rotating roller bed E transports the current body to be transported to the common roller bed N;

[0104] f4), after the current body to be transported passes through the traffic control area and is transported to the rotary roller bed B, the RIFD reader on the rotary roller bed B reads the characteristic information in the sled and transmits it to the PLC in the transport system, which saves the information as the passing point information of the current body to be transported entering the buffer area of ​​line A;

[0105] g4), after the current body to be transported passes through the buffer area of ​​line A, it enters the next workshop and sends out the current body to be transported at the delivery point of line A. After the empty skid is stacked at the skid stacking point of line A (every 3 empty skids are stacked together), it returns through the empty skid balancing system, unstacking at the skid unstacking point of line A / B, and then goes to the vehicle receiving point of line A / B to wait for the vehicle to be received. Whether it returns to line A or line B is dynamically balanced by the empty skid balancing system.

[0106] According to the above records, in an exemplary embodiment, the process of controlling the movement of the roller bed according to the characteristic information in step S220 may also include: controlling multiple roller beds to move in the initial conveying direction according to the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported. In this embodiment, when the current conveying direction of all rotating roller beds in the multiple roller beds is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the multiple roller beds may be directly controlled to move in the initial conveying direction according to the characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported; that is, all rotating roller beds in the multiple roller beds do not adjust their directions. The specific process of controlling multiple roller beds to move in the initial conveying direction can be referred to the above embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

[0107] According to the above description, in an exemplary embodiment, the vehicle body conveying method may further include:

[0108] When a body to be transported entering from the body production line passes through a preset roller bed, the second value is subtracted from the dynamic quantity of the slide in the body production line; wherein the preset roller bed includes a rotating roller bed among multiple roller beds; when a body to be transported in the body production line reaches the exit of the body production line, the second value is added to the dynamic quantity of the slide in the body production line.

[0109] And, obtaining the fixed number of sleds, the dynamic number of sleds and the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line at the current moment; wherein the body to be transported is located above the sled, and the roller bed transports the body to be transported through the transport sled, and the empty sled is a sled that does not carry the body to be transported;

[0110] If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is less than the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sled returned after the body transportation is completed is transported to the exit of the body production line, so that the dynamic number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment remains unchanged;

[0111] If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is greater than or equal to the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line are transported to the exit of another body production line, and the first value is added to the dynamic number of sleds of the other body production line; and when a body to be transported in the body production line arrives at the delivery point of the body production line, the empty sled returned after the body transportation is completed is transported to the buffer area of ​​the body production line, and the first value is subtracted from the dynamic number of sleds of the body production line according to the number of times the sleds enter the buffer area of ​​the body production line.

[0112] According to the above records, in this embodiment, the operating principle diagram of the empty skid balancing system is as follows: Figure 5 shown. Specifically:

[0113] 1), the fixed number of sleds in Line A and Line B is Na and Nb, the dynamic number of sleds in Line A and Line B is Nx (initial value Nx=Na) and Ny (initial value Ny=Nb), and the number of empty sleds in the buffer area in the empty sled balancing system is N; the initial value of N is 9, and the number can be set through the PLC in the conveying system, for example, it can be set to 3, 6, 12 or 15, etc.

[0114] 2) When a car body to be transported enters the entrance of car body line A and passes through rotating roller bed A, the PLC in the transport system decreases the Nx count by 1;

[0115] 3) When a car body to be transported enters the entrance of car body line B and passes through the rotating roller bed E, the PLC in the transport system decreases the Ny count by 1;

[0116] 4) When a car body to be transported passes through the rotating roller bed B and enters the exit of the car body line A, the PLC in the transport system adds 1 to the Nx count;

[0117] 5) When a car body to be transported passes through the rotating roller bed F and enters the exit of the car body line B, the PLC in the transport system adds 1 to the Ny count;

[0118] 6) When Nx-Na<N: the empty skid entering the empty skid A line entrance is transported to the empty skid A line exit through the rotating roller bed G, and the value of Nx remains unchanged;

[0119] 7) When Ny-Nb<N: the empty skid entering the empty skid B line entrance is transported to the empty skid B line exit by the rotating roller bed I, and the value of Ny remains unchanged;

[0120] 8) When Nx-Na≥N: the number of empty skids in lines A and B is in an unbalanced state, the empty skids in the buffer area are transported to the empty skid B line exit through the rotating roller bed I, and the PLC in the transport system increases the Ny count by 3 each time it exits, and the empty skids entering the empty skid A line entrance are transported to the buffer area through the rotating roller bed G, and the PLC in the transport system decreases the Nx count by 3 each time it enters;

[0121] 9) When Ny-Nb≥N: the number of empty skids in lines A and B is in an unbalanced state, the empty skids in the buffer area are transported to the empty skid A line exit through the rotating roller bed G, and the PLC in the transport system increases the Nx count by 3 each time it exits, and the empty skids entering the empty skid B line entrance are transported to the buffer area through the rotating roller bed I, and the PLC in the transport system decreases the Ny count by 3 each time it enters;

[0122] 10) The rotating roller bed H is used to change the forward direction of the empty skid. Each time the skid passes through it, it will make a 180° rotation.

[0123] According to the above description, in an exemplary embodiment, the vehicle body conveying method may further include:

[0124] The preparation time before the first body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the first time; and the preparation time before the second body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the second time; wherein the conveying direction of the first body to be transported includes conveying from the first body production line to the second body production line, and the conveying direction of the second body to be transported includes conveying from the second body production line to the first body production line. The preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions; wherein the preset area can also be called a traffic control area.

[0125] Based on the comparison results of the first time and the second time and the roller bed gap detection result, cross-conveying control is performed on the first and second vehicle bodies to be transported in a preset area; wherein the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

[0126] According to the above records, in this embodiment, the schematic diagram of the traffic control area is as follows: Figure 6 shown. Specifically:

[0127] 11), the vehicle body to be transported from line A to line B passes through the ordinary roller bed M to the ordinary roller bed S, and the vehicle body to be transported from line B to line A passes through the ordinary roller bed Q to the ordinary roller bed R, and the two vehicle bodies to be transported will be cross-transported in the traffic control area. Among them, the vehicle body to be transported from line A to line B can be recorded as the first vehicle body to be transported, and the vehicle body to be transported from line B to line A can be recorded as the second vehicle body to be transported.

[0128] 12), the PLC in the conveying system determines which ordinary roller bed M or ordinary roller bed Q arrives in place first, and then arranges which roller bed to be dispatched first. Among them, the arrival of ordinary roller bed M can be represented by the preparation time before the first vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area, and the arrival of ordinary roller bed Q can be represented by the preparation time before the second vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area. When the preparation time before the first vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area is earlier than the preparation time before the second vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area, it means that the ordinary roller bed M arrives in place first; conversely, when the preparation time before the first vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area is later than the preparation time before the second vehicle body to be transported enters the traffic control area, it means that the ordinary roller bed Q arrives in place first.

[0129] 13) When the ordinary roller bed M body is in place first, and the ordinary roller bed Q is not in the state of leaving the vehicle, the ordinary roller bed R, the ordinary roller bed U and the ordinary roller bed V are not in the running state (no vehicle entering or leaving the vehicle) and are not occupied, the photoelectric sensor for detecting the gap between the ordinary roller bed Q and the ordinary roller bed U does not detect an obstacle, the photoelectric sensor for detecting the gap between the ordinary roller bed V and the ordinary roller bed R does not detect an obstacle, and the PLC in the conveying system does not receive damage signals from the above two gap detection photoelectric sensors, the PLC in the conveying system determines that the ordinary roller bed M can pass through the traffic control area.

[0130] 14) When the body of ordinary roller bed Q is in place first, and ordinary roller bed M is not in the state of leaving the vehicle, ordinary roller bed P, ordinary roller bed T and ordinary roller bed S are not in the running state (no vehicle entering or leaving the vehicle), and no position is occupied, the photoelectric sensor for detecting the gap between ordinary roller bed M and ordinary roller bed P does not detect any obstacle, the photoelectric sensor for detecting the gap between ordinary roller bed T and ordinary roller bed S does not detect any obstacle, and the PLC in the conveying system does not receive damage signals from the above two gap detection photoelectric sensors, the PLC in the conveying system determines that the ordinary roller bed Q can pass through the traffic control area.

[0131] 15). When the ordinary roller bed M and the ordinary roller bed Q are both in place due to other reasons, the PLC in the conveying system controls the two ordinary roller beds to move out in turn. The moving out conditions must meet point 13) or point 14).

[0132] In summary, the present invention can provide a body conveying method, which can adjust the conveying direction of part of the roller bed according to the characteristic information of the body to be conveyed in the body production line, and control the movement of this part of the roller bed according to the adjusted conveying direction, so that when there is equipment failure or shutdown maintenance in the body production line, it can timely ensure the smooth line change production of more important models. At the same time, by adjusting the conveying direction of part of the roller bed, the method can cross-control the two body production lines, so as to realize the mutual flow of bodies in multiple workshops in the body production line. Therefore, the method can avoid the safety risks and high costs of manual pushing caused by equipment failure or shutdown maintenance in the body production line, and there is no beat loss. And the method can adopt the design of rotating roller bed and traffic control at the intersection of roller beds, disperse the beat required to achieve a point to each device, and reduce the demand for a single device under high beat. At the same time, the method detects the gap between roller beds by photoelectric sensors, avoiding the collision risk of roller beds under traffic control. In addition, by calculating the number of empty skids, the method can dynamically balance the number of skids, thereby dynamically and real-time adjusting the body conveying process.

[0133] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe roller beds, etc. in the embodiments of the present invention, these terms are only used to distinguish roller beds from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention, the first roller bed may also be referred to as the second roller bed, and similarly, the second roller bed may also be referred to as the first roller bed.

[0134] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with the art may modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed by the present invention shall still be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle body conveying method, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: Acquire characteristic information of a vehicle body to be conveyed in a vehicle body production line, wherein the characteristic information includes vehicle model information; Controlling the movement of the roller bed according to the characteristic information includes: adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds among the plurality of roller beds, and controlling the some roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction.

2. The vehicle body conveying method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roller bed capable of adjusting direction among the plurality of roller beds is a rotating roller bed; Adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds among the plurality of roller beds and controlling the some roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction specifically includes: When the vehicle body to be transported reaches the rotating roller bed, determining the next roller bed according to the characteristic information; comparing the current conveying direction of the rotating roller bed with the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed; If the current conveying direction of the rotating roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the rotating roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the current conveying direction; If the current conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is different from the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, the conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is adjusted until the adjusted conveying direction of the rotary roller bed is the same as the initial conveying direction of the next roller bed, and the rotary roller bed is controlled to convey the vehicle body to be conveyed to the next roller bed according to the adjusted conveying direction.

3. The vehicle body conveying method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Obtaining the fixed number of sleds, the dynamic number of sleds and the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line at the current moment; If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is less than the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sleds returned after the body transportation is completed are transported to the exit of the body production line, so that the dynamic number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment remains unchanged; If the difference between the dynamic number of sleds and the fixed number of sleds in the body production line at the current moment is greater than or equal to the number of empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line, the empty sleds in the buffer area of ​​the body production line are transported to the exit of another body production line, and the first value is added to the dynamic number of sleds of the other body production line; and when a body to be transported in the body production line arrives at the delivery point of the body production line, the empty sled returned after the body transportation is completed is transported to the buffer area of ​​the body production line, and the first value is subtracted from the dynamic number of sleds of the body production line according to the number of times the sleds enter the buffer area of ​​the body production line.

4. The vehicle body conveying method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: When a certain car body to be transported entering from the car body production line passes through a preset roller bed, a second value is subtracted from the dynamic quantity of the sled in the car body production line; wherein the preset roller bed includes a rotating roller bed among a plurality of roller beds; When a body to be transported in the body production line arrives at the exit of the body production line, a second value is added to the dynamic quantity of the sled in the body production line.

5. The vehicle body conveying method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The preparation time before the first body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the first time; and the preparation time before the second body to be transported enters the preset area is obtained, recorded as the second time; wherein the conveying direction of the first body to be transported includes conveying from the first body production line to the second body production line, and the conveying direction of the second body to be transported includes conveying from the second body production line to the first body production line; the preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions; Based on the comparison results of the first time and the second time and the roller bed gap detection result, cross-conveying control is performed on the first and second vehicle bodies to be transported in the preset area; wherein the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

6. A vehicle body conveying system, characterized in that: The system comprises: Multiple roller beds for conveying the car bodies to be conveyed in the car body production line; A radio frequency identification reader / writer, installed on some or all of the plurality of roller beds, for writing, reading or erasing characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported; A programmable logic controller is electrically connected to the plurality of roller beds and the radio frequency identification reader / writer, respectively, and is used to control the radio frequency identification reader / writer to write, read or erase the characteristic information; And controlling the movement of the plurality of roller beds according to the characteristic information includes: adjusting the conveying direction of some roller beds among the plurality of roller beds, and controlling the some roller beds to move according to the adjusted conveying direction.

7. The vehicle body conveying system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The system also includes: A photoelectric sensor is electrically connected to the programmable logic controller and is used to detect the gap between the roller beds in a preset area and transmit the roller bed gap detection result to the programmable logic controller, so that the programmable logic controller performs cross-conveying control on the vehicle body to be conveyed according to the roller bed gap detection result and the preparation time before the vehicle body to be conveyed enters the preset area; The preset area is formed by different numbers of roller beds crossing in different conveying directions, and the roller bed gap detection result includes whether there is an obstacle between two adjacent roller beds in the preset area and the number of damage signals of the roller bed gap detection sensor in the preset area.

8. The vehicle body conveying system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The system also includes: A sled is configured as a conveying carrier, and the body to be conveyed in the body production line is located above the sled; wherein the roller bed conveys the body to be conveyed by conveying the sled; and, A radio frequency identification tag carrier, mounted on the sled, for storing characteristic information of the vehicle body to be transported; the characteristic information includes vehicle model information; And / or, a touch screen is electrically connected to the programmable logic controller and is used to display the status of the sled, the multiple roller beds, the radio frequency identification reader / writer, the programmable logic controller and the preset area.

9. The vehicle body conveying system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that: The plurality of roller beds include: A plurality of conventional roller beds for conveying the skid in the initial conveying direction; At least one rotating roller bed, the input end and the output end of the rotating roller bed are respectively connected to ordinary roller beds, and the rotating roller bed is used to change the conveying direction of the sled; When the rotating roller bed changes the conveying direction of the slide, the conveying direction of the slide on the previous common roller bed and the next common roller bed is different; Wherein, the upper common roller bed is a common roller bed connected to the input end of the rotating roller bed, and the next common roller bed is a common roller bed connected to the output end of the rotating roller bed.

10. The vehicle body conveying system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The radio frequency identification reader / writer comprises: A first RFID reader / writer, disposed on the first roller bed, for writing the characteristic information; A second RFID reader / writer is disposed on the second roller bed and is used to erase the characteristic information; A third radio frequency identification reader / writer is arranged on all or part of the roller beds except the first roller bed and the second roller bed, and is used to read the characteristic information; Wherein, the first roller bed comprises a common roller bed for receiving the vehicle body to be transported at the entrance of the vehicle body production line, and the second roller bed comprises a common roller bed for outputting the vehicle body to be transported at the exit of the vehicle body production line.

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