Conveying system

Abstract

The invention provides a conveying system capable of reducing mistaken conveying of conveyed objects. This transport system (1) transports a plurality of transport objects to respective destinations, and is provided with: a transport state estimation means that estimates an estimated transport state when a transport object (a) is transported by the transport device (2), and compares the estimated transport state with the transport state when the transport object (a) is transported by the transport device (2); the conveying device (2) carries an actual conveying object (a) and enables the actual conveying object (a) to actually move, and the sensors (5a, 5b) are located at a specified position and are used for detecting the actual conveying object (a) on the conveying device. The comparison means compares the estimated conveying state of the conveyed object (a) estimated by the conveying state estimation means with the actual conveying state of the actual conveyed object detected by the sensors (5a, 5b).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a conveying system using a conveyor device such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor. Background Technology

[0002] In most distribution centers, collection points, and warehouses, conveyor systems are installed. For example, in distribution centers, goods need to be sorted according to their destinations, so the conveyor paths of the conveyor systems installed in distribution centers are branched into multiple routes.

[0003] The conveyor system installed in the distribution yard has a main conveying path and branch conveying paths branching off from the main conveying path. A conveying direction switching device is installed at the branch of the main conveying path.

[0004] Existing technical documents

[0005] Patent documents

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-231745

[0007] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-211015

[0008] Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-230914 Summary of the Invention

[0009] The technical problem that the invention aims to solve

[0010] There is a market demand for faster delivery of goods and increased delivery volume per unit time.

[0011] As a countermeasure to meet this need, the inventors have considered a conveying system that predetermines the destination of the conveyed items, sends the items out in sequence, and when the items in a specific sequence arrive at a designated branch, drives a conveying direction switching device to send the items out to the branch conveying path.

[0012] That is, if conveyor item a is to be sent to branch conveyor path A, conveyor item b to branch conveyor path B, and conveyor item c to branch conveyor path B, then each conveyor item is moved on the main conveyor path in the order of conveyor item a, conveyor item b, and conveyor item c. Then, information that the destination of the first conveyor item a is branch conveyor path A, the destination of the next conveyor item b is branch conveyor path B, and the destination of conveyor item c is branch conveyor path B is sent to the conveyor direction switching device of each branch. In short, the order in which the conveyor items are delivered is associated with their destination to determine which conveyor item is to be transported to which location, and this association information is sent to the conveyor direction switching device of each branch.

[0013] When the conveyed items in the corresponding sequence arrive at the branch where the travel route should be changed, the drive conveying direction conversion device will send the conveyed items out to the branch conveying path.

[0014] In this conveying system, the conveying sequence corresponds to the destination. Because there is no need to confirm the destination of the conveyed items at branch points, the conveying efficiency is high, increasing the quantity conveyed per unit time.

[0015] However, in the above-mentioned conveying system, if the conveyed item is removed during transport, the correspondence between the conveying sequence and the destination will be disrupted, resulting in incorrect transport.

[0016] The same applies if other transported items are placed in the middle of the transport path; the correspondence between the transport order and the destination is disrupted, resulting in incorrect transport.

[0017] This invention addresses the aforementioned problems by proposing a conveying system that minimizes the occurrence of incorrect conveying of materials.

[0018] Technical means to solve the problem

[0019] A method for solving the above problems is a conveying system for transporting multiple items to their respective destinations. The conveying system has a conveying state inference unit, a conveying device, multiple sensors, and a comparison unit. The conveying state inference unit infers the inferred conveying state of the items when they are transported by the conveying device. The conveying device carries the actual items and causes them to actually move. The sensors are located at predetermined positions to detect the actual items on the conveying device. The comparison unit compares the inferred conveying state of the items inferred by the conveying state inference unit with the actual conveying state of the items detected by the sensors.

[0020] The conveying system of this method has a conveying state inference unit, which is used to infer the inferred conveying state when the conveyed object is conveyed by the conveying device. The inferred conveying state is only an inference (expecting).

[0021] In addition, the conveying system in this method has multiple sensors to detect the actual conveying status of the conveyed items.

[0022] In this type of conveying system, since the comparison unit compares the inferred conveying status of the conveyed object inferred by the conveying status inference unit with the actual conveying status of the conveyed object detected by the sensor, fewer erroneous conveyings occur.

[0023] For example, if a transported item is removed, an unexpected empty space will be created in the transport path. That is, in the case of a first transported item moving forward, and a second and third transported item following behind, the transported item in the middle, where the second transported item should be, disappears, and the transport path becomes a state where the third transported item follows the first transported item.

[0024] Furthermore, if other transport items are placed in the middle of the transport path, unexpected congestion will occur on the transport path. That is, if a first transport item is in the process of proceeding and a second transport item is following behind, and a transport item X is placed between the first and second transport items, the transport path will then become a state where a third transport item is being transported after the first transport item.

[0025] If another transported item is placed in the middle of the transport path, the transported item in the middle of the second transported item will disappear from its original position, and the transported item X will be transported after the first transported item, followed by the second transported item.

[0026] This conveying system uses a comparison unit to compare the inferred conveying status of the transported goods with the actual conveying status of the transported goods. By comparing the two, it is possible to identify any unexpected empty spaces or unexpected congestion.

[0027] In the above-described manner, preferably, the conveying state inference unit is capable of inferring the operating period of the sensor under the inferred conveying state, and the conveying system has a drive state detection unit that detects the operating period of the sensor under the actual drive state of the conveying device.

[0028] According to this method, it is possible to compare the inferred transport status with the actual transport status.

[0029] In the above-described embodiments, preferably, the conveying state inference unit is capable of inferring the rotational state of a specific component and / or the time taken to convey the conveyed object under the inferred conveying state, and the conveying system has a drive state detection unit that detects the rotational state of the specific component and / or the time taken to convey the conveyed object.

[0030] This method allows us to monitor the transport status of the goods.

[0031] In the above-described methods, preferably, the conveying state inference unit infers the conveying posture of the conveyed object under the inferred conveying condition, at least any one of the plurality of sensors is a sensor group, the sensor group is composed of a plurality of sensor components arranged in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object, as the actual conveying condition, using the information about the operation period of each sensor component detected by each sensor component of the sensor group, the parallel conveying and / or conveying posture of the conveyed object is detected, and the comparison unit compares the conveying posture of the conveyed object inferred by the conveying state inference unit with the actual parallel conveying and / or conveying posture of the conveyed object detected by the sensors.

[0032] Parallel transport of transported materials refers to a state in which at least a portion of multiple transported materials exist in the same area along the transport direction of the transport path.

[0033] Parallel transport of materials includes situations where at least a portion of the materials travel side-by-side in the same area along the transport direction of the transport path, as viewed from above. Furthermore, parallel transport also includes situations where materials travel in a vertically overlapping manner.

[0034] According to this method, it is possible to detect situations where the orientation of the conveyed object is skewed or the conveyed objects are being conveyed in parallel with each other.

[0035] In the above embodiments, preferably, the conveying device has a conveying component for rotating or traveling, which moves the conveyed object by performing the conveying action. The conveying state inference unit infers the expected conveying action amount at the front end, which is the minimum value of the conveying action amount expected when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement. The conveying system has a drive status detection unit for obtaining the actual conveying action amount as the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. The comparison unit performs a front end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position with the expected conveying action amount at the front end.

[0036] In this type of conveying system, the expected conveying action volume at the front end is compared with the actual conveying action volume.

[0037] The estimated conveying motion amount at the front end is the inferred motion amount of the conveying device during a specific interval before the front end of the conveyed object reaches the position of the sensor. Taking into account errors, the minimum value of the conveying motion amount is adopted.

[0038] On the other hand, the drive condition detection unit obtains the actual conveying action quantity as the actual conveying action quantity of the conveying device.

[0039] In this type of conveying system, by comparing the actual conveying volume with the expected conveying volume at the front end, the predicted arrival time of the conveyed goods can be compared with the actual arrival time of the conveyed goods, thus revealing unexpected empty spaces or unexpected congestion.

[0040] In the above embodiments, preferably, the conveying device has a conveying component for rotating or traveling, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform the conveying action. The conveying state inference unit infers the expected conveying action amount at the rear end, which is the maximum value of the conveying action amount expected when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement. The conveying system has a drive condition detection unit for obtaining the actual conveying action amount as the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. The comparison unit performs a rear end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position with the expected conveying action amount at the rear end.

[0041] In this type of conveying system, the expected conveying action volume at the back end is compared with the actual conveying action volume.

[0042] The estimated conveying motion amount on the back end side is the inferred motion amount of the conveying device when the conveyed object is transported within a specific interval before reaching the sensor position at the back end of the conveyor. Taking into account errors, the maximum value of the conveying motion amount is used.

[0043] On the other hand, the drive condition detection unit obtains the actual conveying action quantity as the actual conveying action quantity of the conveying device.

[0044] In this type of conveying system, by comparing the actual conveying volume with the expected conveying volume at the back end, the predicted arrival time of the conveyed goods at the back end can be compared with the actual arrival time of the conveyed goods at the back end, thus revealing unexpected empty spaces or unexpected congestion.

[0045] In the above embodiments, preferably, the conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying action, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform a conveying action. The conveying state inference unit infers the expected conveying action amount at the front end and the expected conveying action amount at the rear end. The expected conveying action amount at the front end is the minimum value of the conveying action amount when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement, and the expected conveying action amount at the rear end is the maximum value of the conveying action amount when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement. The conveying system has a drive state detection unit that obtains the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. The comparison unit performs a front end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position with the expected conveying action amount at the front end, and performs a rear end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position with the expected conveying action amount at the rear end.

[0046] In this type of conveying system, because a front-end comparison is performed to compare the expected conveying action amount with the actual conveying action amount at the front end, and a back-end comparison is performed to compare the expected conveying action amount with the actual conveying action amount at the back end, the inferred conveying status can be compared with the actual conveying status of the conveyed items more accurately.

[0047] In the above methods, it is preferable that, when the comparison result by the comparison unit indicates a difference between the inferred transport condition and the actual transport condition, at least one of the following processes is performed:

[0048] (1) Change the conveying speed of the conveying device,

[0049] (2) Correct the inferred transport status of the transport status inference unit.

[0050] (3) Change the destination of the transported goods.

[0051] (4) Stop the conveying device.

[0052] (5) Change the transport route,

[0053] (6) Issue a notice.

[0054] "Changing the conveying speed of the conveying device" includes changing the overall speed of the conveying device, as well as changing the speed of a specific section of the conveying device.

[0055] "Correcting the inferred transport status of the transport status inference unit" is a measure taken when it is believed that there is something unreasonable in the inference of the inferred transport status.

[0056] "Changing the destination of the transported goods" means, for example, returning the transported goods to their initial position. Another example is changing the destination to a manual sorting area so that sorting can be carried out by human operators.

[0057] "Stopping the conveying device" includes stopping the entire conveying device, as well as stopping a portion of the conveying device.

[0058] "Changing the transport route" means rerouting the transported goods to a designated destination.

[0059] "Sending a notification" can be done through sound, light, text, etc.

[0060] Another approach to solving the same problem is a conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations. The conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying motion. The items are moved by causing the conveying component to perform this conveying motion. The conveying system includes: a front-end prediction unit that predicts a front-end predicted conveying motion amount, which is the minimum predicted conveying motion amount when the front end of the item is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement; a drive status detection unit that obtains the actual conveying motion amount as the actual conveying motion amount of the conveying device; and a front-end comparison unit that compares the actual conveying motion amount when the front end of the item is detected by the sensor at the predetermined position with the front-end predicted conveying motion amount.

[0061] In this type of conveying system, by comparing the actual conveying volume with the expected conveying volume at the front end, the predicted arrival time of the conveyed goods can be compared with the actual arrival time of the conveyed goods, thus revealing unexpected empty spaces or unexpected congestion.

[0062] Another approach to solving the same problem is a conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations. The conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying motion, moving the items by causing the conveying component to perform this motion. The conveying system includes: a rear-end prediction unit that predicts a rear-end predicted conveying motion amount, which is the maximum value of the predicted conveying motion amount when the rear end of the item is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement; a drive status detection unit that obtains the actual conveying motion amount as the actual conveying motion amount of the conveying device; and a rear-end comparison unit that compares the actual conveying motion amount when the rear end of the item is detected by the sensor at the predetermined position with the rear-end predicted conveying motion amount.

[0063] In this type of conveying system, by comparing the actual conveying volume with the expected conveying volume at the back end, the predicted arrival time of the conveyed goods at the back end can be compared with the actual arrival time of the conveyed goods at the back end, thus revealing unexpected empty spaces or unexpected congestion.

[0064] Another approach to solving the same problem is a conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations. The conveying device has conveying components that perform rotating or traveling conveying actions. The items are moved by causing these conveying components to perform conveying actions. The conveying system includes: a front-end prediction unit that predicts a front-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the minimum predicted conveying action amount when the front end of the item is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement; a rear-end prediction unit that predicts a rear-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the maximum predicted conveying action amount when the rear end of the item is detected by a sensor at a predetermined position under normal movement; a drive status detection unit that obtains the actual conveying action amount as the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device; a front-end comparison unit that compares the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the item is detected by the sensor at the predetermined position with the front-end predicted conveying action amount; and a rear-end comparison unit that compares the actual conveying action amount when the rear end of the item is detected by the sensor at the predetermined position with the rear-end predicted conveying action amount.

[0065] In this type of conveying system, because a front-end comparison is performed to compare the expected conveying action amount with the actual conveying action amount at the front end, and a back-end comparison is performed to compare the expected conveying action amount with the actual conveying action amount at the back end, the inferred conveying status can be compared with the actual conveying status of the conveyed items more accurately.

[0066] In the above-described manner, the conveying system is characterized in that at least any one of the plurality of sensors is a sensor group, which is composed of a plurality of sensor components arranged in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object.

[0067] According to this method, the conveying system uses a sensor array to identify the state of the conveyed object in a planar manner, and understand the shape, conveying posture, parallel conveying status, etc.

[0068] According to this method, it is possible to detect situations where the orientation of the conveyed object is skewed or the conveyed objects are being conveyed in parallel with each other.

[0069] In the above-described manner, it is preferred that the drive status detection unit is capable of performing a detection action, using information about the timing of the operation of the sensor components detected by each sensor component of the sensor group, to detect the delay or early arrival of the conveyed object.

[0070] According to this method, by detecting delays or early arrivals of transported goods, it is possible to understand unexpected gaps or congestion between transported goods.

[0071] In the above-described manner, it is preferred that the drive condition detection unit is capable of performing a detection action, using information about the timing of the action of the sensor components detected by each sensor component of the sensor group, to detect the parallel transport and / or transport posture of the transported object.

[0072] According to this method, detection actions can also be performed to detect abnormal situations such as parallel transport or attitude changes between transported items that are not inferred.

[0073] In the above methods, it is preferable to have a drive condition detection unit that detects the rotation status of a specific component and / or the time taken to transport the conveyed object.

[0074] This method allows us to monitor the transport status of the goods.

[0075] In the above methods, the conveying system is characterized by eliminating parallel conveying of the conveyed items or changing the conveying posture based on the result of the detection action.

[0076] According to this method, parallel transport of materials can be eliminated, and the materials can be transported in an ideal manner.

[0077] In the above methods, it is preferable that when an abnormality is detected due to the delay or early arrival of the transported item, or the removal or placement of the transported item, the deviation between the inferred transport status and the actual transport status is reset, and the inferred transport status is reset according to the detected actual transport status.

[0078] According to this method, when an abnormality is detected due to the delay or early arrival of the transported item, or the removal or placement of the transported item, the inferred transport status can be reset (reset) to a status close to the actual transport status.

[0079] In the above methods, it is preferred that when the conveyed material is fed from one conveying module to another in two adjacent conveying modules, the deviation between the inferred conveying condition and the actual conveying condition is reset, and the inferred conveying condition is reset to the detected actual conveying condition.

[0080] In the above methods, it is preferable to reset the inferred transport status based on the detected actual transport status after the transported material arrives at or passes through the sensor.

[0081] According to this method, since the inferred transport status is constantly updated, an inferred transport status that does not deviate significantly from the actual transported goods can be obtained, thus making it easy to control.

[0082] Another approach to solving the same problem is a conveying system for transporting multiple items to their respective destinations. This system includes a conveying device, multiple sensors, and a comparison unit. The conveying device carries the actual items to cause them to move. At least one of the multiple sensors forms a sensor group, which consists of multiple sensor components arranged in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the items. Information about the timing of the action of each sensor component is detected by the sensor group to detect the parallel transport and / or transport posture of the items. The comparison unit compares the normal transport posture of the items with the actual parallel transport and / or transport posture detected by the sensors.

[0083] According to this method, the conveying status of the conveyed material can be monitored, and the comparison unit can be used to compare it with the normal conveying status.

[0084] In the above methods, it is preferred that the conveying path of the conveying device is branched into multiple paths with multiple conveying destinations, and the conveying sequence of the conveyed items corresponds to the conveying destinations of the conveyed items.

[0085] The conveying system according to this method has high conveying efficiency and can increase the amount of goods conveyed per unit time because there is no need to confirm the destination of the conveyed goods at the branch.

[0086] Invention Effects

[0087] In the conveying system of the present invention, fewer errors occur in the conveying of materials. Attached Figure Description

[0088] Figure 1 This is a conceptual diagram of a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is the conveying line inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and (b) is the actual conveying line.

[0089] Figure 2 This is a conceptual diagram of a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the state of conveying transported items a, b, and c using the conveying system, where (a) is the conveying line inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and (b) is the actual conveying line.

[0090] Figure 3 This is a conceptual diagram of a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the state of conveying transported items a, b, and c using this conveying system. Figure 2 The subsequent states are: (a) the conveyor line inferred by the conveyor state inference unit, and (b) the actual conveyor line.

[0091] Figure 4 This is a conceptual diagram of a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the state of conveying transported items a, b, and c using this conveying system. Figure 3 The subsequent states are: (a) the conveyor line inferred by the conveyor state inference unit, and (b) the actual conveyor line.

[0092] Figure 5 This is a conceptual diagram of a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the state of conveying transported items a, b, and c using this conveying system. Figure 4 The subsequent states are: (a) the conveyor line inferred by the conveyor state inference unit, and (b) the actual conveyor line.

[0093] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of the central control device of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0094] Figure 7 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific roller 26 in the conveying system of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) is the conveying module inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and (b) is the actual conveying module.

[0095] Figure 8 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, representing the state of the conveyed object passing through the section according to the inferred conditions. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0096] Figure 9 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, representing the situation where the conveyed object travels slightly faster but passes through the section normally. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0097] Figure 10 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, representing the situation where the conveyed object travels slightly slower but passes through the section normally. The upper diagrams (a) to (f) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (f) are the actual conveying lines.

[0098] Figure 11 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the situation where the conveyed object passes through the section at an excessively fast speed. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0099] Figure 12This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the situation where the conveyed object passes through the section in a slow-moving state. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0100] Figure 13 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the situation where the conveyed material is taken out midway. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0101] Figure 14 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing the case where an unexpected conveyed item is placed midway. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines predicted by the conveying state prediction unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0102] Figure 15 This is a conceptual diagram of a specific section of the conveying system according to other embodiments of the present invention, showing the case where the conveyed material is taken out midway. The upper diagrams (a) to (e) are the conveying lines inferred by the conveying state inference unit, and the lower diagrams (a) to (e) are the actual conveying lines.

[0103] Figure 16 It is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between the monitoring range, the size of the transported object, and the expected transport volume at the front end and the expected transport volume at the rear end.

[0104] Figure 17 This is a conceptual diagram of the conveying system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which is a real conveying line.

[0105] Figure 18 This is a 3D view of the sensor unit (sensor group).

[0106] Figure 19 (a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams illustrating the parallel transport of the transported materials.

[0107] Figure 20 This is a block diagram of the central control device of the conveying system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0108] Figure 21This is a top view concept diagram of a part of the conveying device according to the second embodiment, showing the operation when conveying in an attitude parallel to the conveying direction. (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyed object on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed object derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed object on the conveying device.

[0109] Figure 22 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 21 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0110] Figure 23 This is a top view concept diagram of a part of the conveying device according to the second embodiment. It is a diagram showing the movement of the conveyed object when its posture is tilted. (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyed object on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed object derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed object on the conveying device.

[0111] Figure 24 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 23 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0112] Figure 25 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 24 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a5) and (a6) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b5) and (b6) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d5) and (d6) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0113] Figure 26 This is a top view concept diagram of a part of the conveying device of the second embodiment, which shows the state of two conveyed objects being conveyed in an overlapping manner. Among them, (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyed objects on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed objects derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed objects on the conveying device.

[0114] Figure 27 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 26 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0115] Figure 28 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 27 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a5) and (a6) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b5) and (b6) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d5) and (d6) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0116] Figure 29 This is a top view concept diagram of a part of the conveying device according to the second embodiment. It shows the situation where the rear conveyor pushes the front conveyor for conveying. (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyor on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyor derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyor on the conveying device.

[0117] Figure 30 This is a top-view concept drawing of a part of the conveying device, representing the continuation of... Figure 29 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0118] Figure 31 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveying device of the second embodiment, viewed from above, showing the movement of the conveyed object when its posture changes during transport. (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the actual movement of the conveyed object on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed object derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed object on the conveying device.

[0119] Figure 32 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 31 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0120] Figure 33 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 32 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a5) and (a6) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b5) and (b6) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d5) and (d6) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0121] Figure 34 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 33 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a7) and (a8) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b7) and (b8) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d7) and (d8) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0122] Figure 35 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 34The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a9) and (a10) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b9) and (b10) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d9) and (d10) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0123] Figure 36 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveying device of the second embodiment, viewed from above. It shows a situation where the preceding conveyed object stops, and the following conveyed object rests on top of it, with the two conveyed objects being conveyed in an overlapping manner. (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyed object on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed object derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed object on the conveying device.

[0124] Figure 37 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 36 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0125] Figure 38 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 34 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a5) and (a6) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b5) and (b6) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d5) and (d6) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0126] Figure 39 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 38 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a7) and (a8) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b7) and (b8) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d7) and (d8) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0127] Figure 40 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveying device of the second embodiment, viewed from above. It shows the situation where, after the preceding conveyed object stops, the following conveyed object pushes the preceding conveyed object to continue conveying. In this diagram, (a1) and (a2) are diagrams showing the movement of the actual conveyed object on the conveying device, (b1) and (b2) are diagrams showing the sensor images on the conveying device, (c1) and (c2) are diagrams showing the posture and shape of the conveyed object derived from the sensor images at the time of reset, and (d1) and (d2) are diagrams showing the movement of the virtual conveyed object on the conveying device.

[0128] Figure 41 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 40 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a3) ​​and (a4) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b3) and (b4) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d3) and (d4) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0129] Figure 42 This is a conceptual diagram of a portion of the conveyor system viewed from above, representing a continuation of... Figure 41 The following diagrams show the motion of the actual transported object on the transport device, (a5) and (a6) show the motion of the sensor image on the transport device, (b5) and (b6) show the posture and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor image at reset, and (d5) and (d6) show the motion of the virtual transported object on the transport device.

[0130] Figure 43 This is a perspective view showing an example of a conveying module that includes multiple conveying units and can assign different conveying directions to each conveying unit. Detailed Implementation

[0131] The embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

[0132] The conveying system 1 of this embodiment has Figure 1 The actual conveyor line 25 and central control unit 3 are shown in (b).

[0133] The conveyor line 25 has a conveying device 2 formed by a roller conveyor and multiple section sensors 5.

[0134] The conveying device 2 is composed of a large number of known conveying modules 6 connected together. Furthermore, the conveying module 6, referred to as a zone conveyor, is a short-sized roller conveyor. The conveying modules 6 of the conveying device 2 are driven by an electric motor (not shown). An independent control device 7, referred to as a zone controller, is installed on the conveying module 6, and the rollers 26 belonging to the conveying module (… Figure 7 The conveyor is driven and stopped using an independent control device 7. That is, the motor of the conveyor module 6 of the conveyor device 2 is controlled by the independent control device 7.

[0135] In this embodiment, the independent control device 7 belonging to each conveying module 6 outputs pulses corresponding to the rotation of the motor.

[0136] An object presence sensor 45 is provided in the conveying module 6. Figure 7 The conveying module 6 of the conveying device 2 is driven independently, causing the conveyed material to move forward (in the direction of the arrows from left to right in the figure). That is, when the conveyed material is introduced into the upstream conveying module 6, this conveying module 6 and the conveying module 6 at the front of its travel direction are driven to move the conveyed material forward. This action is repeated sequentially to move the conveyed material.

[0137] like Figure 1 As shown in (b), the conveyor line 25 has a main conveying path 10 and multiple branch conveying paths branching off from the main conveying path. Furthermore, a conveying direction switching device (not shown) is provided at each branch. For the sake of illustration, only branch conveying paths A and B are shown. Additionally, the area at the starting end of the main conveying path 10 is the preparation area 50, and its front side is the conveying area 51.

[0138] Multiple section sensors (sensors) 5 are installed at certain intervals on the conveyor line 25.

[0139] The type of segment sensor 5 is not limited; for example, an optical sensor can be used.

[0140] For example, the section sensor 5 can be a transmissive optical sensor with a pair of emitters and receivers. When using a transmissive optical sensor, the emitter is placed on one side of the conveyor line 25 and the receiver is placed on the other side.

[0141] The segment sensor 5 used in this embodiment is a single sensor. The segment sensor 5 used in this embodiment can determine whether there is a conveyed object in front of the segment sensor 5. In this embodiment, the segment sensor 5 can detect the front and rear ends of the conveyed object.

[0142] That is, the segment sensor 5 used in this embodiment can determine whether there is a certain object between the emitter and the receiver.

[0143] An information reading unit 8 is provided in the preparation area 50 of the conveyor line 25. The information reading unit 8 is a device for reading information from barcodes or QR codes attached to the conveyed items.

[0144] The structure and principle of the information reading unit 8 are not limited; it can read information optically or using magnetic fields or radio waves. For example, the information reading unit 8 can be a QR code reader or a barcode reader. The information reading unit 8 can also read information from information storage components such as RFID.

[0145] The conveying system 1 of this embodiment has a full length measuring unit that measures the full length of the conveyed object at the start of conveying.

[0146] In this embodiment, as described below, the total length of the conveyed item at the start of conveying is measured by the first segment sensor 5a. However, the invention is not limited to this structure, and the total length of the conveyed item at the start of conveying can also be measured by a separate sensor. As a variation, for example, a measuring sensor (not shown) for measuring the length of the conveyed item can be provided in the information reading unit 8.

[0147] At the end of conveyor line 25 is a manned work area 27. The manned work area 27 is a work area where workers sort goods manually.

[0148] The central control unit 3 will be described next.

[0149] The central control unit 3 has a CPU and a memory, which stores computer programs for performing the required functions.

[0150] The central control device 3 in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 6 As shown, a computer program is stored that is functionally equivalent to a conveyor control unit 11, a conveyor status inference unit 12, a drive status detection unit 13, a comparison unit 28, a reset unit 16, and a conveyed material length measurement unit 18.

[0151] The signals from the section sensor 5, the information reading unit 8, and each conveying module 6 are input to the central control device 3.

[0152] A transmission module 6 and a display device 17 are connected to the output side of the information reading unit 8.

[0153] The conveyor control unit 11 controls the conveying device 2 and, in addition to normal control functions, also has a conveyed material information storage unit 30 and a destination setting unit 31. The conveyed material information storage unit 30 stores information about what the conveyed material is and its conveying destination.

[0154] The destination setting unit 31 determines the destination of the transported goods and the transport path based on the information of the transported goods information storage unit 30.

[0155] The transport status inference unit 12 uses a computer to infer and determine the transport status of the transported item. In particular, the transport status inference unit 12 functions as an inference pulse calculation unit 35, a front-end expected transport action amount determination unit 36, and a rear-end expected transport action amount determination unit 37.

[0156] Specifically, the transport status inference unit 12 determines at what time and what position each transported item should arrive at on the conveyor line 25.

[0157] The following is a description of the transport status inference unit 12.

[0158] Figure 8 The lower diagram in each figure is the actual conveying device 2. Hereinafter, the lower diagram in each figure will be referred to as the actual conveying device 2. Figure 8 The lower part of each figure depicts the actual conveying device 2, schematically showing the situation between the two section sensors 5a and 5b. Figure 8 The upper diagram in each figure represents a virtual conveyor device 102, which corresponds to the real conveyor device 2 and has virtual segment sensors 105a and 105b. Hereinafter, the upper diagram in each figure will be referred to as the virtual conveyor device 102. The virtual conveyor device 102 is obtained by imitating the real conveyor device 2.

[0159] For example, the transport status inference unit 12, such as Figure 8 As shown in the upper part of each figure, the location of transported item 'a' is determined at which time period.

[0160] exist Figure 8 In each of the virtual conveying devices 102, solid lines represent the positions that the conveyed items should be in at each time point. Furthermore, for ease of understanding, the conveyed item whose position is determined by the conveying state inference unit is referred to as virtual conveyed item a. In addition, the actual conveyed item is represented as actual conveyed item a. For ease of understanding, virtual conveyed item a and actual conveyed item a are represented at the same scale.

[0161] In this embodiment, considering external interference with the estimated range during transport, a range slightly wider than the actual transported object a is defined in the virtual transport device 102 to determine the position of the actual transported object a within that range at any given time.

[0162] exist Figure 8In the virtual transport device 102 of (b), the double-dotted line frame surrounding the virtual transport object a is the existence area 15 in which the virtual transport object a should be located. The size of the existence area 15 is not limited, but it is about 1.05 to 1.3 times the total length of the virtual transport object a. More preferably, it is about 1.08 to 1.15 times the total length of the virtual transport object a.

[0163] Figure 7 This is an enlarged view of each virtual transport device 102 and the real transport device 2 at a specific location. The line at the front of the area 15 is the front boundary line 20. Furthermore, the line at the rear is the rear boundary line 21.

[0164] The conveying state inference unit 12 is used to simulate the ideal motion of the conveyed object, such as Figure 8 As shown, the virtual transport object a and the surrounding area 15 move over time.

[0165] The front-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 36 ​​and the rear-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 37 are used to determine the allowable range of the driving amount of the conveying device 2 during the period when the virtual conveyed object a passes through the two segment sensors 105a and 105b in the virtual space.

[0166] That is, the actual conveying device 2 is a roller conveyor, on which the actual conveyed object a is placed. The actual conveyed object a is moved by the rotation of the roller.

[0167] The conveying state inference unit 12 moves the virtual conveyed object a between two segment sensors 105a and 105b in virtual space. The central control unit 3 calculates the inferred driving state of the roller 26 when the virtual conveyed object a passes through the two virtual segment sensors 105a and 105b. That is, it calculates a value associated with the number of rotations of the roller 26 required for the virtual conveyed object a to pass through the two virtual segment sensors 105a and 105b. The number of rotations of the roller 26 is specifically related to the motor pulses of the conveying device 2. In this embodiment, the motor pulses are used as the value associated with the required number of rotations of the roller 26.

[0168] The front-end expected delivery amount determination unit 36 ​​and the back-end expected delivery amount determination unit 37 will be described next.

[0169] For ease of explanation, the upstream section sensor 5a of the actual conveying device 2 in the direction of travel is referred to as the first section sensor 5a, and the downstream section sensor 5b is referred to as the second section sensor 5b. Furthermore, the upstream section sensor 105a of the virtual conveying device 102 in the direction of travel is referred to as the virtual first section sensor 105a, and the downstream section sensor 105b is referred to as the virtual second section sensor 105b.

[0170] In this embodiment, the inference pulse calculation unit 35 and the front-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 36 ​​are used to calculate the number of roller rotations required from the moment the front end of the virtual conveyor a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the front boundary line 20 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b. The required number of rotations is converted into motor pulses.

[0171] As mentioned above, since the virtual conveying device 102 is obtained by imitating the real conveying device 2, the front-end side expected conveying motion amount determination unit 36 ​​calculates the number of roller rotations required from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until it reaches the second section sensor 5b.

[0172] Similarly, using the inference pulse calculation unit 35 and the rear-side expected conveying motion determination unit 37, the number of roller rotations required from the front end of the virtual conveyor a being detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the rear boundary line 21 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b is calculated.

[0173] As mentioned above, since the virtual conveying device 102 is obtained by imitating the real conveying device 2, the rear-end side expected conveying motion determination unit 37 calculates the number of roller rotations required from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until it reaches the second section sensor 5b.

[0174] The front boundary line 20 is located ahead of the front end of the virtual conveyor a. Therefore, the number of motor pulses required for the front boundary line 20 to reach the virtual second segment sensor 105b is less than the number of motor pulses required for the front end of the virtual conveyor a to reach the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0175] The number of motor pulses (transportation action amount) required from the inference that the front end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the inference that the front boundary line 20 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b is the minimum value of the inference range (allowable range) of motor pulses (transportation action amount) expected under normal movement from the inference that the front end of the actual transport object a is detected by the actual first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the same actual transport object a is detected by the actual second segment sensor 5b.

[0176] In this embodiment, the front-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 36 ​​is used to determine the motor pulses required from the front end of the virtual conveyor a being detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the front boundary line 20 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0177] That is, in this embodiment, assuming that the conveyed object a moves normally, the front-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 36 ​​determines the minimum value (allowable value) of the motor pulse (conveying motion amount) expected from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0178] Hereinafter, the minimum value (allowable value) of the motor pulses (conveyor movement amount) expected from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b, as determined by the front-end side expected conveyor movement amount determination unit 36, will be referred to as the front-end arrival inference pulse. The front-end arrival inference pulse is the front-end side expected conveyor movement amount, which is the minimum value of the expected conveyor movement amount that the front end of the conveyed object a will be detected by the second section sensor 5b under normal movement conditions.

[0179] The front-end arrival inference pulse is determined by calculation, not by actual value. According to the origin of the front-end arrival inference pulse, the front-end arrival inference pulse is the minimum value of the motor pulse (transportation action amount) expected from the front end of the virtual conveyor a being detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the front end of the virtual conveyor a is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0180] The rear boundary line 21 is located after the virtual conveyor a. Therefore, the number of motor pulses required for the rear boundary line 21 to reach the virtual second segment sensor 105b is greater than the number of motor pulses required for the rear end of the virtual conveyor a to reach the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0181] The motor pulses (transportation action amount) required from the inference that the front end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the inference that the rear boundary line 21 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b are the maximum value of the inference range (allowable range) of motor pulses (transportation action amount) expected under normal movement from the front end of the actual transport object a being detected by the actual first segment sensor 5a until the rear end of the same actual transport object a being detected by the actual second segment sensor 5b.

[0182] In this embodiment, the roller motor pulses required from the moment the front end of the virtual conveyor a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the rear boundary line 21 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b are determined using the rear-side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 37.

[0183] That is, in this embodiment, assuming that the conveyed object a moves normally, the rear-end side predicted conveying motion amount determination unit 37 determines the maximum value (allowable value) of the motor pulse (conveying motion amount) expected from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0184] Hereinafter, the maximum value (allowable value) of the motor pulse (transportation action amount) that is expected to be detected by the first section sensor 5a from the front end of the actual transported object a until the rear end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b, as determined by the rear-end side expected transport action amount determination unit 37, is called the rear-end arrival inference pulse.

[0185] The rear-end arrival inference pulse is the expected conveying action amount on the rear side, which is the maximum value of the conveying action amount that is expected to be detected by the second segment sensor 5b at the rear end of the conveyor a under normal movement.

[0186] The back-end arrival inference pulse is determined by calculation, not by actual value. According to the origin of the back-end arrival inference pulse, the back-end arrival inference pulse is the maximum value of the motor pulse (transportation action amount) expected from the front end of the virtual transport object a being detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the back end of the virtual transport object a being detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0187] Based on the front-end expected conveying action amount determination unit 36 ​​and the rear-end expected conveying action amount determination unit 37, the conveying state inference unit 12 determines the cumulative value of motor pulses required for the virtual second section sensor 105b to detect the front end of the virtual conveyed object a, and the cumulative value of motor pulses required for the virtual second section sensor 105b to detect the rear end of the virtual conveyed object a.

[0188] The drive status detection unit 13 will be described next.

[0189] The drive status detection unit 13 acquires information related to the actual drive status of the actual conveying device 2. Specifically, the drive status detection unit 13 accumulates the pulses output from the independent control device 7 corresponding to the rotation of the motor by the actual pulse accumulation unit 42. In this embodiment, the drive status detection unit 13 detects the operating period of the section sensor 5 under the actual drive status of the actual conveying device 2.

[0190] In this embodiment, the drive status detection unit 13 is used to accumulate the actual motor pulses required from the time the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0191] Hereinafter, the actual motor pulses required from the moment the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b are referred to as the front end arrival measured pulses.

[0192] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the drive status detection unit 13 is used to accumulate the actual motor pulses required from the front end of the actual transported object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0193] Hereinafter, the actual motor pulses required from the front end of the actual transported object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b are referred to as the rear end arrival measured pulses.

[0194] The comparison unit 28 has a front-end comparison unit 53 and a back-end comparison unit 55. The comparison unit 28 compares the inferred transport status of the transported item inferred by the transport status inference unit 12 with the actual transport status of the transported item detected by the section sensor 5.

[0195] In this embodiment, the front-end arrival measured pulse and the rear-end arrival measured pulse detected by the drive status detection unit 13 are compared with the front-end arrival inference pulse (front-end side expected delivery action amount) and the rear-end arrival inference pulse (rear-end side expected delivery action amount) determined by the front-end side expected delivery action amount determination unit 36 ​​and the rear-end side expected delivery action amount determination unit 37. That is, the front-end arrival measured pulse and the front-end arrival inference pulse (front-end side expected delivery action amount) are compared using the front-end comparison unit 53. Furthermore, the rear-end arrival measured pulse and the rear-end arrival inference pulse (rear-end side expected delivery action amount) are compared using the rear-end comparison unit 55.

[0196] If the measured pulses arriving at the front end and the measured pulses arriving at the back end are within the range of the inferred pulses arriving at the front end (expected transmission amount on the front end side) and the inferred pulses arriving at the back end (expected transmission amount on the back end side), they are considered normal; if they exceed this range, they are considered abnormal.

[0197] The conveyed length measuring unit 18 is a computer program that measures the total length of the conveyed item at the start of conveying based on the signal from the first section sensor 5a.

[0198] The conveyed material is placed in the preparation area 50 of the main conveyor path 10 and moves along the main conveyor path 10 into the conveying area 51. At this time, the conveyed material passes in front of the first section sensor 5a (before the sensor). When the leading edge of the conveyed material reaches the first section sensor 5a, the first section sensor 5a detects this. That is, the first section sensor 5a becomes ON (activated). The ON state of the first section sensor 5a is maintained while the conveyed material passes in front of the first section sensor 5a. Then, when the conveyed material finishes passing in front of the first section sensor 5a, the first section sensor 5a becomes OFF (deactivated).

[0199] The conveyed length measurement unit 18 calculates the total length of the conveyed item based on the conveying distance and time of the main conveying path 10 during the period when the first section sensor 5a is in the ON state.

[0200] The operation of the conveying system 1 in this embodiment will be described below.

[0201] In the conveying system 1 of this embodiment, before actual conveying, a simulation is performed to convey virtual conveyed items a, etc., using a virtual conveying device 102 in virtual space, and the conveying status of the virtual conveyed items a, etc., is compared with that of the actual conveying device 2.

[0202] The actual transported items are randomly placed in the preparation area 50 of conveyor line 25. For example, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the actual transported items a, b, and c are placed in the preparation area 50 of the conveyor line 25.

[0203] The actual transported items a, b, and c travel downstream via conveyor line 25, and the information reading unit 8 reads the information of the codes attached to the transported items. The read information is sent to the central control device 3. The central control device 3 retrieves the corresponding transported item from the transported item information storage unit 30 and determines the transport destination of each actual transported item a, b, and c. In the transport system 1 of this embodiment, the transport sequence of transported items a, b, and c corresponds to the transport destination.

[0204] In addition, when entering the main conveying path 10 from the preparation area 50, the total length of the conveyed object is calculated by the conveyed object length measurement unit 18.

[0205] Furthermore, in the case where, as a variation, the information reading unit 8 is equipped with a measuring sensor (not shown) for measuring the length of the conveyed object, the information reading unit 8 measures the total length of each actual conveyed object a, b, and c, and the length information is also sent to the central control device 3.

[0206] In this embodiment, the simulation of the virtual conveying device 102 begins after each actual conveyed object a, b, c passes through the first section sensor 5a and the total length of the conveyed object is calculated by the conveyed object length measurement unit 18, or immediately after passing through the information reading unit 8.

[0207] For example, suppose that actual transport item 'a' should be sent to branch transport path A, and actual transport item 'b' should be sent to branch transport path B. In the simulation, the first transport item is identified as transport item 'a', the next transport item is identified as transport item 'b', and the last transport item is identified as transport item 'c'.

[0208] Then, the distance that each actual transported item a, b, and c should move before reaching the designated branch is converted into pulses.

[0209] In the virtual conveying device 102, after each actual conveyed item a, b, c has moved the calculated distance, it enters the target branch conveying path A, B.

[0210] Next, the operation of the actual conveying device 2 will be explained. The actual conveyed items a, b, and c of the actual conveying device 2 flow through the preparation area 50 and enter the conveying area 51.

[0211] The central control device 3 sends a signal to the actual delivery device 2, causing it to perform the simulated operation.

[0212] Based on signals from the actual conveying device 2, the central control unit 3 calculates the actual moving distance of conveyed items a, b, and c after they pass the initial section sensor 5. Specifically, the actual pulse accumulation unit 42 accumulates the pulses output from the conveying module 6 corresponding to the number of rotations of the motor (not shown) as the actual conveyed items a, b, and c move, and calculates the actual moving distance of the actual conveyed items a, b, and c after they pass the initial section sensor 5.

[0213] For example, assume that there is a branch of the branch transport path A at a position where the distance converted to pulses is 2200 pulses, and there is a branch of the branch transport path B at a position where the distance converted to pulses is 3200 pulses.

[0214] Therefore, when the moving distance of the items reaches the position of the conveying module 6 corresponding to the branch position, the central control device 3 sends a signal to the corresponding conveying module 6 of the actual conveying device 2, and the conveying direction conversion device (not shown) installed in the conveying module 6 is driven to send the conveyed items a, b, and c to the corresponding branch conveying paths A and B.

[0215] As mentioned above, in the conveying system 1 of this embodiment, the conveying sequence of the conveyed items corresponds to the conveying destination.

[0216] In this embodiment, the conveying system 1 only recognizes the order in which the actual conveyed items a, b, and c are arranged. Regardless of what the first conveyed item is, it is sent to branch conveying path A. Furthermore, regardless of what the next conveyed item is, it is sent to branch conveying path B.

[0217] Actual transported items a, b, c, such as Figure 2 As shown, the items are arranged in the order of the actual transported items a, b, and c.

[0218] The actual transport items a, b, and c are transported in this order. Information about the destinations of the actual transport items a, b, and c is sent from the central control unit 3 to each transport module 6. Regardless of the first transport item, when the first transport item reaches the branch transport path A, if... Figure 3 , Figure 4 As shown, the conveyed item enters branch conveyor path A. Furthermore, regardless of what the next conveyed item is, when the leading conveyed item has traveled a certain distance to reach branch conveyor path B, as... Figure 5 As shown, the transported material enters branch transport path B.

[0219] In this embodiment, the movement of the virtual conveying device 102 is compared with the movement of the real conveying device 2. If there is a large difference between the two, a prescribed measure is taken.

[0220] In the conveying system 1 of this embodiment, in particular, the comparison unit 28 compares the inferred conveying status of the virtual conveyed object a, etc., inferred by the conveying status inference unit 12 with the actual conveying status of the actual conveyed object a, etc., detected by the section sensor 5.

[0221] The following is an explanation of this action.

[0222] In the conveying system of this embodiment, the comparison unit 28 compares the inferred conveying status of the virtual conveyed object a, etc., inferred by the conveying status inference unit 12 with the actual conveying status of the actual conveyed object a, etc., detected by the section sensor 5, for the actual conveying status of the actual conveyed object a, etc., between the actual conveyed object a, etc., between the section sensor 5 and the actual conveying status of the virtual conveyed object a, etc., inferred by the conveying status inference unit 12.

[0223] That is, from the moment the front end of the actual transported item a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2 until the rear end of the actual transported item a is detected by the second segment sensor 5b, the inferred transport status of the virtual transported item a by the virtual transport device 102 is compared with the transport status of the actual transported item a. Specifically, as follows... Figures 8 to 14As shown, when the front end of the actual transported item a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, and the front end and the rear end of the actual transported item a are measured by the first segment sensor 5a to determine the total length of the actual transported item a, an existence region 15 is defined around the virtual transported item a of the virtual transport device 102, and a front boundary line 20 and a rear boundary line 21 are determined. Furthermore, the size of the existence region 15 varies according to the size of the actual transported item a. That is, the size of the existence region 15 varies according to the measured total length of the actual transported item a, as measured by the first segment sensor 5a or the information reading unit 8.

[0224] In this embodiment, the detection state of the second segment sensor 5b when the actual transported object a passes through the second segment sensor 5b is compared with the detection state of the virtual transported object a passing through the virtual second segment sensor 105b of the virtual transport device 102.

[0225] That is, if the virtual transport device 102 in the virtual space passes through the virtual second section sensor 105b at the same time as the actual transported object a passes through the second section sensor 5b, it is judged as a normal passage.

[0226] If there is a deviation between the time when the actual transported object a passes through the second section sensor 5b and the time when the virtual transport device 102's existence area 15 passes through the virtual second section sensor 105b, and the actual transported object a fails to pass through the second section sensor 5b during the period when the virtual transport device 102's existence area 15 passes through the virtual second section sensor 105b, then it is judged as an abnormal passage.

[0227] More specifically, if the front boundary line 20 of the virtual transported item a has not yet reached the virtual second section sensor 105b when the front end of the actual transported item a is detected by the second section sensor 5b, it is determined to be an abnormal passage. Similarly, if the rear boundary line 21 of the virtual transported item a has already passed the virtual second section sensor 105b when the rear end of the actual transported item a is detected by the second section sensor 5b, it is determined to be an abnormal passage.

[0228] In practice, the drive status detection unit 13 uses accumulated motor pulses to detect the actual conveying action of the actual conveying device 2 when the actual conveyed object a moves from the position of the first section sensor 5a to the position of the second section sensor 5b. The motor pulse is then compared with the motor pulse determined by the front-end expected conveying action amount determination unit 36 ​​and the motor pulse determined by the rear-end expected conveying action amount determination unit 37.

[0229] That is, the motor pulses corresponding to the actual conveying action amount from when the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second segment sensor 5b are compared with the motor pulses corresponding to the conveying action amount required when the front boundary line 20 is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0230] Furthermore, the motor pulses corresponding to the actual conveying action amount from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first segment sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the second segment sensor 5b are compared with the motor pulses corresponding to the conveying action amount required for the rear boundary line 21 to be detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0231] Figure 8 This indicates the condition of the actual transported item a when it passes through the corresponding section as determined by the transport state inference unit 12.

[0232] That is, such as Figure 8 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported item a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the real transport device 2, a virtual transported item a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102. Furthermore, the virtual transported item a at this stage is merely a model and has little practical significance. Therefore, the appearance of the virtual transported item a on the side of the virtual transport device 102 could also occur after the rear end of the actual transported item a has passed in front of the first segment sensor 5a of the real transport device 2.

[0233] Then, as Figure 8 As shown in (b), the virtual transport object a of the virtual transport device 102 and the actual transport object a of the real transport device 2 move forward together. When the virtual transport object a leaves the virtual first segment sensor 105a, as previously described, an existence area 15 is defined around the virtual transport object a of the virtual transport device 102, and a front boundary line 20 and a rear boundary line 21 are determined.

[0234] Then, as Figure 8 As shown in (c), the virtual transport object a of the virtual transport device 102 and the actual transport object a of the real transport device 2 move forward together at the same speed. Figure 8 As shown in (d) and (e), the virtual transport object a of the virtual transport device 102 and the actual transport object a of the real transport device 2 pass through the second section sensors 5b and 105b simultaneously.

[0235] Figure 9 This indicates the situation where the actual transported item a travels slightly faster through the corresponding section compared to the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12. However, Figure 9In the example shown, at the same time that the actual transported item a passes through the second section sensor 5b, the virtual transport device 102's area 15 also passes through the virtual second section sensor 105b, which is a normal passage.

[0236] That is, such as Figure 9 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0237] like Figure 9 As shown in (b), the actual transport object a travels faster than the virtual transport object a. Therefore, the difference between the two is as follows: Figure 9 As shown in (c), it expands slowly, but as Figure 9 As shown in (d), when the front end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, at least the front boundary line 20 of the virtual conveying device 102 has reached the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0238] In addition, such as Figure 9 As shown in (e), when the rear end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, the rear boundary line 21 of the virtual conveying device 102 has not yet reached the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0239] therefore, Figure 9 Under the current transport conditions, the actual transported item a travels slightly faster than the transport conditions determined by the transport conditions inference unit 12, but is still within the normal passage range.

[0240] That is, when the front end of the actual conveyed object a in the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the front end comparison unit 53 compares the actual conveying action amount with the front end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the front end side). The front end arrival inference pulse is the minimum value (allowable value) of the motor pulse (conveying action amount) expected from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0241] exist Figure 9 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is greater than the front-side expected conveying action amount determined by the front-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 36. Therefore, Figure 9 Under the current transport conditions, although the actual transported item a travels slightly faster than the transport conditions determined by the transport conditions inference unit 12, the front end of the actual transported item a passes through normally.

[0242] Furthermore, at the stage where the rear end of the actual conveyed item a of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the rear end comparison unit 55 compares the actual conveying action amount with the rear end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the rear end side). The rear end arrival inference pulse is the maximum value (allowable value) of the motor pulses (conveying action amount) expected from the front end of the actual conveyed item a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed item a is detected by the second section sensor 5b.

[0243] exist Figure 9 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is less than the rear end arrival inference pulse (rear end side expected conveying action amount) determined by the rear end side expected conveying action amount determination unit 37. Therefore, Figure 9 Under the current transport conditions, although the actual transported item a travels slightly faster than the transport conditions determined by the transport conditions inference unit 12, the rear end of the actual transported item a passes through normally.

[0244] When the rear end of the actual transported item a passes the second segment sensor 5b, the reset unit 16 resets the relationship between the virtual transport device 102 and the actual transport device 2 within that segment. That is, within that segment, the actual transported item a travels faster than the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12, and the position of the actual transported item a deviates from the position of the virtual transported item a. However, at the point when the rear end of the actual transported item a passes the second segment sensor 5b, this deviation is reset, and the virtual transported item a reappears on the virtual transport device 102 side. This new virtual transported item a has the aforementioned existence area 15.

[0245] In the above description, although the deviation between the two is reset at the time when the rear end of the actual conveyed object a passes the second section sensor 5b, the timing for the reset unit 16 to reset the relationship between the virtual conveying device 102 and the actual conveying device 2 can also be the time when the front end of the actual conveyed object a passes the second section sensor 5b.

[0246] That is, since the total length of the actual transported object a is known, the deviation between the two can be reset at the stage of the second segment sensor 5b at the front end of the actual transported object a, so that the virtual transported object a reappears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0247] Figure 10 This indicates the situation where the actual transported object a travels more slowly through the corresponding section compared to the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12. However, Figure 10In the example shown, at the same time that the actual transported item a passes through the second section sensor 5b, the area 15 of the virtual transport device 102 also passes through the virtual second section sensor 105b, which is a normal passage.

[0248] That is, such as Figure 10 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0249] like Figure 10 As shown in (b), the actual transport object a moves slower than the virtual transport object a. Therefore, the difference between the two is as follows: Figure 10 (c) Figure 10 As shown in (d), it expands slowly, but as Figure 10 As shown in (e), when the front end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, at least the front boundary line 20 of the virtual conveying device 102 has reached the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0250] In addition, such as Figure 10 As shown in (f), when the rear end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, the rear boundary line 21 of the virtual conveying device 102 has not yet reached the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0251] therefore, Figure 10 Under the current transport conditions, the actual transported item a travels slightly slower than the transport conditions determined by the transport conditions inference unit 12, but is still within the normal passage range.

[0252] That is, when the front end of the actual conveyed item a of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the front end comparison unit 53 compares the actual conveying action amount with the front end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the front end side). Furthermore, when the rear end of the actual conveyed item a of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the rear end comparison unit 55 compares the actual conveying action amount with the rear end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the rear end side).

[0253] exist Figure 10 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is greater than the front-side expected conveying action amount determined by the front-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 36. Therefore, Figure 10 Under the conveying conditions, the front end of conveyed item a passes normally.

[0254] In addition, Figure 10 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is less than the rear end arrival inference pulse (rear end side expected conveying action amount) determined by the rear end side expected conveying action amount determination unit 37. Therefore, Figure 10 Under the actual conveying conditions, the rear end of the conveyed item a passes through normally.

[0255] When the rear end of the actual transported item a passes the second segment sensor 5b, the reset unit 16 resets the relationship between the virtual transport device 102 and the actual transport device 2 within that segment. That is, within that segment, the actual transported item a travels slower than the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12, and the position of the actual transported item a deviates from the position of the virtual transported item a. However, at the point when the rear end of the actual transported item a passes the second segment sensor 5b, this deviation is eliminated, and the virtual transported item a reappears on the virtual transport device 102 side. This new virtual transported item a has the aforementioned existence area 15.

[0256] As mentioned earlier, the deviation between the two can also be reset when the front end of the actual conveyed object a passes through the second segment sensor 5b, so that the virtual conveyed object a reappears on the side of the virtual conveying device 102.

[0257] Figure 11 This indicates the condition when the actual transported object a travels through the corresponding interval at a relatively fast speed compared to the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12. Figure 11 In the example shown, when the actual transported item a reaches the second section sensor 5b, the virtual transport device 102's existence area 15 has not yet reached the virtual second section sensor 105b, which is an abnormal passage.

[0258] That is, such as Figure 11 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0259] like Figure 11 As shown in (b), the actual transport a travels much faster than the virtual transport a. Therefore, the difference between the two is as follows: Figure 11 (c) Figure 11 The (d) diagram is further expanded, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 11 As shown in (e), when the front end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the front boundary line 20 of the virtual conveying device 102 has not yet reached the virtual second section sensor 105b.

[0260] therefore, Figure 11 Under the current transport conditions, the actual transported item a travels faster than the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12, which is an abnormal passage.

[0261] That is, when the front end of the actual conveyed object a of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the front end comparison unit 53 compares the actual conveying action amount with the front end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the front end side).

[0262] exist Figure 11 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is less than the front-side expected conveying action amount determined by the front-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 36. Therefore, Figure 11 Under the conveying conditions, the front end of conveyed item a did not pass through normally.

[0263] Figure 12 This indicates the condition when the actual transported object a moves rather slowly through the corresponding section compared to the transport state determined by the transport state inference unit 12. Figure 12 In the example shown, when the rear end of the actual transported item a passes the second section sensor 5b, the area 15 of the virtual transport device 102 has already passed the virtual second section sensor 105b, which is an abnormal passage.

[0264] That is, such as Figure 12 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0265] like Figure 12 As shown in (b), the actual transport a moves considerably slower than the virtual transport a. Therefore, the difference between the two is as follows: Figure 12 (c) Figure 12 The (d) diagram is further expanded, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 12 As shown in (e), when the rear end of the actual conveyed object a of the real conveying device 2 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, the rear boundary line 21 of the virtual conveying device 102 has passed the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0266] therefore, Figure 12 Under the current transport conditions, the actual transported item a is slower than the transport conditions determined by the transport conditions inference unit 12, which is an abnormal passage.

[0267] That is, at the stage when the rear end of the actual conveyed object a of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the rear end comparison unit 55 compares the actual conveying action amount with the rear end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the rear end side).

[0268] exist Figure 12 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a until the rear end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the second section sensor 5b is greater than the rear-side expected conveying action amount determined by the rear-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 37. Therefore, Figure 12 Under the actual conveying conditions, the rear end of the conveyed item a did not pass through normally.

[0269] Figure 13 This indicates the situation when the conveyed object a is removed between the first section sensor 5a and the second section sensor 5b.

[0270] That is, such as Figure 13 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0271] like Figure 13 As shown in (b), the actual transport object a travels at the same speed as the virtual transport object a. Furthermore, in Figure 13 In (b), the front end of the actual transported object b is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the real transport device 2, and the virtual transported object b also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0272] Then, as Figure 13 As shown in (c), the actual transport a travels at the same speed as the virtual transport a, and the actual transport b also travels at the same speed as the virtual transport b.

[0273] Then, in Figure 13 In stage (d), the leading actual transport item a is removed. Therefore, it essentially proceeds with the following actual transport item b in front. However, the virtual transport item a does not disappear in the virtual transport device 102, and it continues to proceed as before.

[0274] Then, as Figure 13 As shown in (e), when the first transport item b arrives at the second segment sensor 5b, the area 15 of the first virtual transport item a on the virtual transport device 102 has passed the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0275] That is, at the stage when the rear end of the actual conveyed object b of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the rear end comparison unit 55 compares the actual conveying action amount with the rear end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the rear end side).

[0276] exist Figure 13 Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during its movement from the front end of the actual conveyed object a being detected by the first section sensor 5a to the rear end of the actual conveyed object b being detected by the second section sensor 5b is greater than the rear-side expected conveying action amount determined by the rear-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 37. Therefore, Figure 13 Under the actual conveying conditions, the rear end of the conveyed item a did not pass through normally.

[0277] Therefore, it can be concluded that the passage was abnormal when the transported item was taken away.

[0278] Figure 14 This refers to the situation where an unplanned transport object x is placed between the first segment sensor 5a and the second segment sensor 5b.

[0279] That is, such as Figure 14 As shown in (a), when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, the virtual transported object a also appears on the side of the virtual transport device 102.

[0280] like Figure 14 (b) Figure 14 As shown in (c), the actual transport a travels at the same speed as the virtual transport a.

[0281] Then, in Figure 14 In stage (d), an actual transport object x is placed (deployed) before the leading actual transport object a. Therefore, it essentially travels with the placed actual transport object x in front. However, the virtual transport object x does not appear in the virtual transport device 102, and the virtual transport object a continues to travel as before.

[0282] Then, as Figure 14 As shown in (e), when the current first moving actual transport x reaches the second segment sensor 5b, the area 15 where the first virtual transport a exists on the virtual transport device 102 has not yet reached the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0283] That is, when the front end of the actual conveyed object x of the actual conveying device 2 reaches the second section sensor 5b, the front end comparison unit 53 compares the actual conveying action amount with the front end arrival inference pulse (the expected conveying action amount on the front end side).

[0284] exist Figure 14Under the current conveying conditions, the actual conveying action amount (cumulative value of motor pulses) of the actual conveying device 2 during the movement from when the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the first section sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object x is detected by the second section sensor 5b is less than the front-side expected conveying action amount determined by the front-side expected conveying action amount determination unit 36. Therefore, Figure 14 Under the conveying conditions, the front end of conveyed item a did not pass through normally.

[0285] Therefore, it can be concluded that the passage was abnormal when an unexpected transport object x was placed in it.

[0286] In the event that the passage of transport item a is an abnormal passage, the following measures may be taken, for example.

[0287] (1) Change the conveying speed of the conveying device,

[0288] (2) Correct the inferred transport status of the transport status inference unit.

[0289] (3) Change the destination of the transported goods.

[0290] (4) Stop the conveying device.

[0291] (5) Issue a notice.

[0292] "Changing the conveying speed of the conveying device" includes changing the overall speed of the conveying device, as well as changing the speed of a specific section of the conveying device.

[0293] "Correcting the inferred transport status of the transport status inference unit" is a measure taken when it is believed that there is something unreasonable in the inference of the inferred transport status, and the setting of the inferred transport status is changed.

[0294] "Changing the destination of the transported goods" means, for example, returning the transported goods to their initial position. Another example is changing the destination to a manual sorting area 27 so that sorting can be carried out by human operators.

[0295] "Stopping the conveying device" includes stopping the entire conveying device 2, as well as stopping a portion of the conveying device 2.

[0296] "Changing the transport route" means rerouting the transported goods to a designated destination.

[0297] "Issuing a notification" may be, for example, displaying warning text or light on display device 17. In addition, sound may be played from a speaker.

[0298] In the embodiments described above, for ease of understanding, the description is based on the method in which the virtual conveying device 102 and the real conveying device 2 move and operate simultaneously, but the virtual conveying device 102 and the real conveying device 2 do not need to move simultaneously.

[0299] In summary, taking the detection of the actual transported object a by the section sensor 5 as an opportunity, the actual transport action amount is compared with the front-end arrival inference pulse (the expected transport action amount on the front side) or the rear-end arrival inference pulse (the expected transport action amount on the rear side).

[0300] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the comparison unit 28 compares the inferred transport status of the transported object inferred by the transport status inference unit 12 with the actual transport status of the transported object detected by the sensor 5. That is, in the above embodiments, the inferred transport status of the transported object is determined and compared with the actual movement of the transported object.

[0301] However, instead of inferring the inferred transport status of the transported item, one can simply compare the minimum value of the transport action expected when the front end of the transported item is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions (i.e., the expected transport action at the front end) with the actual transport action when the front end of the transported item is detected by a sensor at a specified position.

[0302] Similarly, the maximum value of the expected conveying action when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions (i.e., the expected conveying action at the rear end) can be compared with the actual conveying action when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position.

[0303] In the embodiments described above, such as Figures 8 to 14 As shown in (b), when the virtual transport object a leaves the virtual first segment sensor 105a, an existence area 15 is defined around the virtual transport object a in the virtual transport device 102, and a front boundary line 20 and a rear boundary line 21 are determined.

[0304] However, the present invention is not limited to this structure. A virtual transport object a may also appear on the virtual transport device 102 side when the front end of the actual transport object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2, and a presence area 15 may be defined simultaneously. Furthermore, the presence area 15 may be defined during the period when the front end of the actual transport object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2.

[0305] That is, the unit that detects the total length of the actual transported object a is arbitrary. If the total length of the actual transported object a is known at the time when it is detected by the first segment sensor 5a of the actual transport device 2 at the front end of the transported object a, the existence area 15 can be defined at an earlier stage.

[0306] In the embodiments described above, the front-end arrival inference pulse is the minimum (allowable) value of the motor pulse (transportation action amount) expected when the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second segment sensor 5b, and it has no width. That is, as described later, the front-end arrival inference pulse (expected transport action amount on the front end side) is a value such as 1950 pulses, and it has no width. In other words, in the embodiments described above, only the front end of the region 15 (front boundary line 20) is determined, and its range is not defined.

[0307] This invention is not limited to this structure; the front-end arrival inference pulse may also have upper and lower limits. For example, the front-end arrival inference pulse may have upper and lower limits, such as from 1950 pulses to 2000 pulses.

[0308] If the front end reaches the inference pulse with upper and lower limits, then as follows: Figure 15 As shown, when the conveyed object a is removed between the first segment sensor 5a and the second segment sensor 5b, this fact can be known earlier.

[0309] That is, in Figure 15 In the illustrated embodiment, the front-end arrival inference pulse has an upper limit UL and a lower limit LL. In Figure 15 In the embodiments shown, such as Figure 15 As shown in (e), when the first virtual transport a on the virtual transport device 102 reaches the upper limit UL in the existence area 15, the currently first transport b has not yet reached the second segment sensor 5b.

[0310] Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the leading virtual transport item a on the virtual transport device 102 reaches the upper limit UL in the existence area 15, it is possible to detect that the actual transport item a has been taken away.

[0311] Furthermore, the above embodiment compares the estimated conveying action amount (inferred pulse) under normal movement with the actual conveying action amount (measured pulse) as the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. However, in addition to this, or instead, the estimated transit time between sensors under normal movement of the conveyed object can be compared with the actual time required for the conveyed object to pass between the sensors.

[0312] For example, the transport status inference unit 12 determines the time required from when the front end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the front end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b. Furthermore, the transport status inference unit determines the time required from when the front end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual first segment sensor 105a until the rear end of the virtual transport object a is detected by the virtual second segment sensor 105b.

[0313] The drive status detection unit 13 accumulates the time required from the moment the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the actual transported object a is detected by the second segment sensor 5b. Then, the comparison unit compares the estimated required time with the actual required time.

[0314] For example, in Figures 8 to 10 In the example shown, the transit time of the front and rear ends of the actual transported item a is within the range inferred by the transport status inference unit, which is within the normal transit range.

[0315] In contrast, Figures 11 to 14 In the example shown, the transit time of the front or rear end of the actual transported item a exceeds the range predicted by the transport status inference unit, which is an abnormal transit.

[0316] Example

[0317] The following is for reference Figure 16 An example of an embodiment with region 15, etc., will be described.

[0318] For example, such as Figure 16 As shown in (a), it is assumed that the distance from the first segment sensor 5a to the second segment sensor 5b is equivalent to a D pulse, and the total length of the actual transported object a is an M pulse. Region 15 is greater than the total length of the actual transported object a, i.e., an M pulse, and is therefore an F pulse. For example, the front end of region 15 (front boundary line 20) is located at the front fg of the front end of the actual transported object a. The rear end of region 15 (rear boundary line 21) is located at the rear rg of the front end of the actual transported object a.

[0319] like Figure 16 As shown in (b), the amount of conveying action from the moment the front end of the actual conveyed object a is located at the position of the first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the actual conveyed object a reaches the second segment sensor 5b is equivalent to a D pulse. That is, the D pulse is the amount of conveying action when the actual conveyed object a is moving normally under conditions of no obstruction.

[0320] In contrast, the existence region 15 is the permissible range within which the actual transported object a is allowed to exist. The front end of the existence region 15 (front boundary line 20) represents the permissible front end of the actual transported object a when it travels at a relatively fast speed within the inferred error range. Since the front boundary line 20 is located at the front fg of the front end of the actual transported object a, the amount of transporting motion from the state where the front end of the actual transported object a is located at the position of the first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the front boundary line 20 reaches the second segment sensor 5b, is as follows: Figure 16(b) shows “D-fg”. The amount of conveying action “D-fg” is the minimum amount of conveying action expected when the front end of the actual conveyed object a is detected by the sensor at the specified position under normal movement conditions, i.e., the expected amount of conveying action at the front end.

[0321] The rear end of region 15 (rear boundary line 21) represents the rear end that is permissible when the actual transported object a travels slowly within the inferred range. Since the rear boundary line 21 is located at the rear rg of the rear end of the actual transported object a, the amount of transport motion from the state where the front end of the actual transported object a is located at the position of the first segment sensor 5a until the rear boundary line 21 reaches the second segment sensor 5b is "D + M + rg". The amount of transport motion "D + M + rg" from the state where the front end of the actual transported object a is located at the position of the first segment sensor 5a until the front end of the rear boundary line 21 reaches the second segment sensor 5b is the maximum value of the transport motion expected when the rear end of the transported object is detected by the sensor at the specified position under normal movement, i.e., the expected transport motion amount on the rear end side.

[0322] The estimated conveying motion quantity (D pulse) from the front end of the virtual transport object a to the virtual second segment sensor 105b is set to 2000 pulses. The estimated total length (M pulse) of the actual transport object a is set to 300 pulses, and fg and rg are set to 30 pulses. Therefore, the estimated conveying motion quantity at the front end is 1970 pulses. In addition, the estimated conveying motion quantity at the rear end is 2330 pulses.

[0323] In the conveyor system 1 described above, the section sensor 5, which serves as the conveyor line 25, is, for example, a transmissive optical sensor with a pair of emitters and receivers. The section sensor 5 used in the conveyor system 1 is a single sensor capable of determining whether an object exists between the emitter and the receiver. That is, the section sensor 5 used in the conveyor system 1 consists of only one emitter and one receiver.

[0324] The section sensor 5 used in the conveying system 1 is only used to detect whether the conveyed object exists between the light emitter and the light receiver.

[0325] On the other hand, the purpose of the conveying system 151 of the second embodiment described below is to realize a conveying system capable of recognizing the shape, size, posture, etc. of the conveyed object when viewed from above. The conveying system 151 is a conveying system capable of recognizing the following states: the conveyed object is conveyed in an inclined manner, the conveyed objects are conveyed in a parallel manner, or the conveyed object on the rear side pushes the conveyed object on the front side as if they were one conveyed object, etc.

[0326] In the conveying system 151 of the second embodiment, the section sensor 5 is adopted as such Figure 18 The sensor assembly 112 shown is composed of multiple sensor components 121 arranged at intervals in a straight line perpendicular to the transport direction. The sensor assembly 112 is obtained by housing multiple sensor components 121 in series within a defined housing 186, thereby unitizing them. Hereinafter, the sensor assembly will be referred to as the sensor unit 112.

[0327] In this embodiment, the sensor unit (sensor group) 112 is as follows: Figure 17 As shown, the sensor component 121 is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the conveyed object.

[0328] The conveyor line 200 of the conveying system 151 in the second embodiment is as follows: Figure 17 As shown, the section sensor 5, which consists of a single sensor and is used in the conveyor line 25 of the previous embodiment, is replaced with sensor units 112 (112a to 112e). That is, in the conveyor system 1 of the first embodiment, a single sensor is used as the section sensor 5, but in the conveyor system 151 of the second embodiment, a sensor unit (sensor group) 112, which is a unitized structure in which multiple sensor components 121 are arranged in series and housed in a defined housing 186, is used as the section sensor 5.

[0329] The basic component structure of conveyor line 200 is the same as that of conveyor line 25 of conveyor system 1 in the aforementioned embodiment.

[0330] That is, conveyor line 200 such Figure 17 As shown, it has a conveying device 2 consisting of a roller conveyor and multiple section sensors 5 (sensor units 112).

[0331] The conveying device 2 is composed of multiple known conveying modules 6, which are referred to as area conveyors. Each conveying module 6 is equipped with an object presence sensor 45. Figure 7 ).

[0332] Conveyor line 200 is the same as in the previous embodiment, such as... Figure 17 As shown, there is a main conveying path 10 and multiple branch conveying paths A and B branching off from the main conveying path.

[0333] On the conveyor line 200, multiple section sensors 5 (sensor units 112) are installed at certain intervals.

[0334] For ease of explanation, such as Figure 17As shown, the conveying area 51 is divided into five sections: a first section 70a, a second section 70b, a third section 70c, a fourth section 70d, and a fifth section 70e. Section sensors 5 (sensor units 112) are provided between the preparation area 50 and the first section 70a, and between each section. The section sensors 5 (sensor units 112) are composed of multiple sensor components 121 arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyed material.

[0335] The central control device 153 in this embodiment is similar to the aforementioned central control device 3, having a CPU and a memory, and storing a program that implements the required functions.

[0336] As a major functional module, it includes a conveyor control unit 11, a conveyor status inference unit 162, a drive status detection unit 163, a comparison unit 158, a reset unit 16, and a conveyed material length measurement unit 18.

[0337] In this embodiment, the signals from the sensor unit 112, the information reading unit 8, and each of the transmission modules 6 are input to the central control device 153. The transmission module 6 and the display device 17 are connected to the output side of the information reading unit 8.

[0338] The function of the conveyor control unit 11 is the same as in the previous embodiment, so the description is omitted.

[0339] In addition to the functions of the previous embodiment, the conveying state inference unit 162 can also infer the movement posture of the conveyed object during conveying.

[0340] That is, the conveying state inference unit 162 used in this embodiment is the same as the conveying state inference unit 12 used in the previous embodiment, inferring and determining the conveying state of the conveyed object by a computer. Furthermore, specifically, the conveying state inference unit 162 functions as both the inference pulse calculation unit 35 and the virtual conveying object conveying motion amount determination unit 185. These functions are the same as those of the conveying state inference unit 12 used in the previous embodiment.

[0341] In the transport state inference unit 162, the movement posture of the transported object during transport is inferred to be that the transported object is moving in a straight line.

[0342] Next, the drive condition detection unit 163 will be described. The drive condition detection unit 163 has the same functions as the drive condition detection unit 13 used in the previous embodiment, and also has a sensor image generation unit 155 for generating sensor images and a transport determination unit 156 for detecting transport objects.

[0343] Based on the drive status detection unit 163, the shape / size / orientation of the actual transport object (the transport object detected by the sensor unit 112) when viewed from above can be determined using the sensor image generation unit 155 and the transport object determination unit 156.

[0344] The central control unit 153 includes a comparison unit 158. In the comparison unit 158 ​​of this embodiment, an anomaly is determined during the transport process by comparing the detected transport object determined by the detected transport object determination unit 156 with the virtual transport object. The detected transport object is a planar shape generated by the sensor image generation unit 155 based on the transport distance between the sensor unit 112 and the actual transport object, reflecting the shape / size / orientation of the actual transport object.

[0345] By comparing the detected transported object with the virtual transported object, it is possible to detect situations such as tilting or parallel transport of transported objects.

[0346] The reset unit 16 is the same as in the previous embodiment. That is, the reset unit 16 resets the relationship between the virtual conveying device 102 and the actual conveying device 2 in the section at a predetermined time.

[0347] The operation of the conveying system according to the second embodiment will now be described in more detail. Furthermore, in the following description of the second embodiment, components having the same functions as those in the first embodiment will also be labeled with the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment.

[0348] First, we will explain how the central control device 153 of the conveying system 151 in the second embodiment detects the conveying posture of the conveyed object and the driving status such as whether there is parallel conveying.

[0349] Reference Figures 21 to 22 This describes the action of conveying the material from the first section 70a to the second section 70b in an orientation parallel to the conveying direction. Furthermore, the first section 70a and the second section 70b are as follows... Figure 17 As shown, each is composed of multiple conveying modules 6 connected in series, and has a considerable length, but... Figure 21 , Figure 22 Due to the plotting requirements, only the boundary portion of the first segment 70a and the second segment 70b was captured.

[0350] Figure 21 The subsequent figures are all depicted in four lines. They are numbered from top to bottom with the English letters (a), (b), (c), (d) and suffixes such as 1, 2, 3, etc.

[0351] In each figure, the first row of figures labeled (a) shows the motion of the actual transported object on the conveyor. The second row of figures labeled (b) shows the sensor images on the conveyor. The third row of figures labeled (c) shows the attitude and shape of the transported object derived from the sensor images at reset. The fourth row of figures labeled (d) shows the motion of the virtual transported object on the conveyor.

[0352] Suffixes such as 1, 2, 3, etc. indicate changes that occur over time.

[0353] For example, focusing on the figures in the first row marked (a), the actual transported object is initially located at position (a1), and the actual transported object moves over time, with its position changing according to (a2), (a3), (a4)...

[0354] The second row of graphs marked (b), the third row marked (c), and the fourth row marked (d) also show the changes that occur over time.

[0355] like Figure 17 , Figure 21 , Figure 22 As shown, a second sensor unit 112b is configured at the front end of the second section 70b.

[0356] In this embodiment, the second sensor unit 112b is composed of eight sensor components 121 arranged in a straight line. However, the sensor units 112a, 112b, 112c, 112d, and 112e may contain more or fewer sensor components 121 than eight. The sensor unit 112b can be constructed simply by arranging multiple sensor components 121 in a straight line with intervals between them.

[0357] In addition, Figures 21 to 22 In the figure, only (a1) to (a4) which represent the movement of the actual transported object a are labeled with reference numerals.

[0358] Sensor component 121 is a sensor capable of detecting the presence of an object. In this embodiment, a reflective photoelectric sensor is used. That is, sensor component 121 has a light-projecting part and a light-receiving part within a housing. Light projected from the light-projecting part is reflected by the object being detected and reaches the light-receiving part, thereby detecting the presence of the object in a designated location. In other words, sensor component 121 performs a detection operation to detect the presence or absence of the object in the designated location in a non-contact manner.

[0359] Although not specifically limited, in this embodiment, a photodiode is used as the sensor element constituting the light-receiving part.

[0360] Actual transported item a, such as Figure 21(a1), (a2) Figure 22 As shown in (a3) ​​and (a4), the movement proceeds from left to right. Figure 21 In (a1), the actual transported object a is located in the first section 70a, and then proceeds to... Figure 22 (a4). To facilitate the explanation of the detection action of sensor unit 112, it is assumed that the virtual transported object on the conveying device is initialized only at the time when the actual transported object passes through sensor unit 112b. The following explanation will be provided.

[0361] The actual transported object a moves to the second section 70b by passing through the second sensor unit 112b. At this time, when the actual transported object a begins to pass over the second sensor unit 112b, reflected light reaches the light-receiving part of the sensor component 121, such as... Figure 21 As shown in (b2), the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 begins to form a sensor image sa using the sensor image generation unit 155. That is, the actual transported object a is moved at a certain speed, and the ON / OFF (activated / deactivated) state of each sensor component 121 of the sensor unit 112b below is monitored during this period. The sensor components 121 of the sensor unit 112b are arranged in a straight line, so it is possible to detect whether there is an object on the sensor unit 112b instantly and detect it as a line. As the actual transported object a moves over time, the lines representing the presence or absence of an object on the sensor unit 112b at each instant expand into a surface, forming a graphic with an area.

[0362] That is, by accumulating the image (line) of the actual transported object a captured by sensor unit 112b on the time axis, such as Figure 21 (b1), (b2) Figure 22 As shown in (b3) and (b4), the sensor image sa is gradually formed.

[0363] That is, by accumulating the image of the actual transported object a captured by sensor unit 112b on the time axis, such as Figure 21 (b1), (b2) Figure 22 As shown in (b3) and (b4), the sensor image sa is gradually formed.

[0364] Furthermore, the sensor unit operation time of the second sensor unit 112b is correlated with the conveying action amount (motor pulse count) using the actual pulse accumulation unit 42. Thus, as described later, a comparison of the relative positional relationship with the virtual conveyed object ia, represented by the motor pulse count, is possible.

[0365] The accumulation of sensor image sa begins at the point in time when it passes the sensor unit 112 located upstream of each segment 70 at the very beginning of the conveyor a, and ends at the point in time when it passes the sensor unit 112 at the very end and reaches the next segment 70. That is, the sensor image generation unit 155 via Figure 22 From state (b3) to state (b4), the sensor image sa is accumulated along the time axis. At state (b4), the accumulation of the sensor image sa ends when the reflected light can no longer be obtained from the sensor unit. That is, at this time point, the overall image of the sensor image sa is obtained.

[0366] At the point where the accumulation of sensor image sa ends, based on the accumulation along the time axis... Figure 22 The sensor (b4) like sa uses the detection delivery determination unit 156 to determine... Figure 22 The detection of the transported object da (c4). That is, at the time point when the rear end of the actual transported object a passes the sensor unit 112 and reaches the transport module (the time point when the second sensor unit 112 can no longer obtain reflected light, also referred to as the reset time below), based on the accumulated data in the time axis direction. Figure 22 The sensor (b4) like sa uses the detection delivery determination unit 156 to determine... Figure 22 The detection of the conveyed material da by (c4). At this time point (reset time), simultaneously as Figure 22 As shown in (d4), the virtual transport ia is reset (reset) to the obtained detection transport da.

[0367] Furthermore, the diagram in the third row, marked (c), is a representation of the orientation and shape of the transport object derived from the sensor image at reset, and therefore appears only at the moment of reset (hereinafter referred to as the reset moment). Figure 21 , Figure 22 To explain, the detection of the transport object da by the detection transport object determination unit 156 is performed at the reset time point, and in this example, it is only... Figure 22 The time point (c4). This also applies to the following figures illustrating other examples.

[0368] Next, use Figures 23 to 25 This describes the action of conveying the object from the first section 70a to the second section 70b in an inclined posture relative to the conveying direction. That is, imagine that the object's posture is parallel to the direction of travel when entering section 70a, but its posture tilts midway through section 70a before entering the second section 70b. Furthermore, in this example, for ease of explanation of the detection action of sensor unit 112, it is assumed that the virtual object on the conveying device is initialized only at the point when the actual object passes sensor unit 112b, as explained below.

[0369] Actual transported item a, such as Figure 23 (a1), (a2) Figure 24 (a3), (a4) Figure 25 The movement is shown in (a5) and (a6). Figure 23 In (a1), the actual transported object a is located in the first section 70a, and after passing through the second sensor unit 112b, as shown... Figure 25 As shown in (a6), it proceeds to the second section 70b. At this time, as the actual transported object a begins to pass over the second sensor unit 112b, as... Figure 23 As shown in (b2), the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 begins to form a sensor image sa using the sensor image generation unit 155. That is, the sensor image sa is formed by accumulating the image of the actual transported object a captured by the sensor unit 112b on the time axis. Here, since the actual transported object a is in a downward tilted posture, therefore Figure 23 The sensor image sa of the actual transport object a (a2) becomes narrower than the width of the actual transport object a. That is, when traveling in a parallel state, ( Figure 23 (b2) is a sensor image that is slightly narrower than the width of the sensor image.

[0370] When the actual transported object a further travels up in section 70b and arrives... Figure 24 When the position of (a3) ​​is reached, due to the fact that... Figure 23 The unreflected portion of (a2) also reflects the light emitted from sensor component 121, thus the sensor image sa is as follows Figure 24 As shown in (b3), an image extending downwards from the middle is formed. When the actual transported object a further travels up section 70b and reaches... Figure 25 At position (a5), because the front end of the actual conveyed object a is tilted downwards, its rear end protrudes upwards. Therefore, as... Figure 25 As shown in (b5), the sensor image sa at this location becomes an image with an upwardly protruding portion. Then, at the time point when the rear end of the actual transported object a passes the second sensor unit 112b and reaches segment 70b, the sensor image generation unit 155 accumulates the sensor image sa in the time axis direction. Figure 25 The state of (b6) when the actual transported item a arrives Figure 25 The position of (a6) is in Figure 25 In (b6), the accumulation of sensor image sa ends at the time point when reflected light is no longer received from the sensor unit. That is, the overall image of sensor image sa is obtained at this time point.

[0371] At this point in time, i.e., the reset time, based on the accumulated data along the time axis... Figure 25The sensor (b6) is like sa, using the detection delivery determination unit 156 to determine... Figure 25 The detection of the transported object da (c6). At the time point when the actual transported object a passes the sensor unit 112 at the rear end and reaches section 70b, simultaneously as Figure 25 As shown in (d6), the virtual transport ia is reset (reset) to the obtained detection transport da.

[0372] When the transported object enters section 70a, its attitude is parallel to the direction of travel; therefore, the virtual transported object's attitude is straight from d1 to d5. At the point in time when the rearmost end of the actual transported object a passes sensor unit 112 and arrives at the transport module in section 70b, such as... Figure 25 As shown in (d6), the orientation of the virtual transport ia is reset to a tilted orientation.

[0373] According to the conveying system 151 of this embodiment, it is possible to identify whether multiple actual conveyed items are conveyed in parallel.

[0374] In this embodiment, parallel transport of transported items refers to a state where at least a portion of multiple transported items exist in the same area along the transport direction of the transport path. That is, parallel transport of transported items includes, for example... Figure 19 As shown in (a), this refers to a situation where, when viewed from above, at least a portion of the conveyed material travels side-by-side in the same area along the conveying direction of the conveying path. That is, this includes situations where the conveyed material travels side-by-side laterally.

[0375] In addition, such as Figure 19 As shown in (b), the situation where the transported items move in an overlapping state is also the situation where the transported items are transported in parallel.

[0376] Next, use Figures 26 to 28 This describes the operation when the transported material is moved from the first segment 70a to the second segment 70b in an overlapping manner. Specifically, it is assumed that there is a predetermined interval between actual transported material a and actual transported material b when entering segment 70a, but that actual transported materials a and b overlap midway through segment 70a, and then enter the second segment 70b in this overlapping state. Furthermore, in this example, for ease of explanation of the detection operation of sensor unit 112, it is assumed that the virtual transported material on the transport device is initialized only at the point when the actual transported material passes sensor unit 112b, as explained below.

[0377] The actual transported items a and b are in an overlapping state, as shown below. Figure 26 (a1), (a2) Figure 27 (a3), (a4) Figure 28 The movement is shown in (a5) and (a6). Figure 26In (a1), the actual transported object a is located in the first section 70a, and after passing through the second sensor unit 112b, as shown... Figure 26 As shown in (a2), it proceeds to the second segment 70b. At this time, among the overlapping actual transport objects a and b, when the preceding actual transport object a begins to pass over the second sensor unit 112b, as shown in (a2), Figure 26 As shown in (b2), the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 begins to form a sensor image sa using the sensor image generation unit 155. That is, the sensor image sa is formed by accumulating the image of the actual transported object a captured by the sensor unit 112b on the time axis. At this time point, only a portion of the actual transported object a has arrived at segment 70b, therefore, as Figure 26 As shown in (b2), a sensor image sa with the same width as the actual transport object a will be obtained.

[0378] When the actual transported items a and b further travel up section 70b and arrive at... Figure 27 At position (a3), the portion of the actual transported object b also begins to reflect the light emitted from sensor component 121, thus overlapping sensor images sa and sb appear as... Figure 27 As shown in (b3), an image extending downwards from the middle is formed. When the actual transported objects a and b further travel up section 70b and reach... Figure 27 When the actual transported object a passes the second sensor unit 112b at position (a4), the rear portion of the sensor images sa and sb forms an image with the width of the actual transported object b. Then, the actual transported object b reaches the transport module at the point when its rearmost end passes the second sensor unit 112b. Figure 28 At time point (a5), reflected light can no longer be obtained from the sensor unit, and the accumulation of sensor image sb ends. That is, as... Figure 28 As shown in (b5), the overall images of sensor images sa and sb were obtained at this time point.

[0379] At this reset moment, based on the accumulated data in the time axis direction... Figure 28 The sensors (b5), such as sa and sb, use the detection conveyor decision unit 156 to make decisions. Figure 28 The detection of transported items da and db by (c5). The time point at which the actual transported item b passes the sensor unit 112 and arrives at the transport module, such as Figure 28 As shown in (d5), the virtual transports ia and ib are reset (reset) to the state of the detected transports da and db.

[0380] At the point in time when the actual transport objects a and b pass the rear sensor unit 112 and arrive at the transport module of section 70b, the attitude of the virtual transport objects ia and ib is reset, and thereafter they are in a state of overlapping virtual transport objects a and b.

[0381] Subsequently, virtual transport items ia and ib travel on segment 70b with the transport action amount obtained by the virtual transport operation amount determination unit 185 from the transport state inference unit 162. Under the condition that actual transport items a and b are being transported normally, such as... Figure 28 As shown in (a6), it exhibits the same motion as the virtual transports ia and ib.

[0382] Next, use Figures 29 to 30 This describes the action of the rear conveyor pushing the front conveyor, transporting them from the first segment 70a to the second segment 70b as a single conveyor. Specifically, it describes the action of actual conveyor a and actual conveyor b having a predetermined interval when entering segment 70a, but midway through segment 70a, the rear actual conveyor b collides with the preceding actual conveyor a, transporting them from the first segment 70a to the second segment 70b as a single conveyor. Furthermore, it is assumed that the width of actual conveyor a is smaller than the width of actual conveyor b. In this example, for ease of explanation of the detection action of sensor unit 112, it is also assumed that the virtual conveyor on the conveying device is initialized only at the point when the actual conveyor passes sensor unit 112b, as explained below.

[0383] In the actual state where the transported items a and b are pushed by the transported item behind, such as... Figure 29 (a1), (a2) Figure 30 The movement is shown in (a3) ​​and (a4).

[0384] exist Figure 29 In (a1), the actual transported object a is located in the first section 70a, and after passing through the second sensor unit (112b), as... Figure 29 As shown in (a2), it proceeds to the second segment 70b. At this time, when the actual transported item a in the current row begins to pass over the second sensor unit 112b, as shown in (a2), Figure 29 As shown in (b2), the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 begins to form a sensor image sa using the sensor image generation unit 155. That is, the sensor image sa is formed by accumulating the image of the actual transported object a captured by the sensor unit 112b on the time axis. At this time point, only a portion of the actual transported object a has arrived at segment 70b, therefore, as Figure 29 As shown in (b2), a sensor image sa with the same width as the actual conveyed object a is obtained.

[0385] When the actual transported items a and b further travel up section 70b and arrive at... Figure 30When the actual transport object b is at position (a3), the portion that becomes the actual transport object b begins to reflect the light emitted from sensor component 121. Therefore, the width of the rear portion of sensor images sa and sb is greater than the width of the front portion. Furthermore, in this example, the rear end of the actual transport object a is in close contact with the front end of the actual transport object b, and is pushed in this state. Therefore, the drive condition detection unit 163 identifies the actual transport objects a and b as a single transport object. Thus, even if the rear end of the actual transport object a passes sensor unit 112b, the sensor image generation unit 155 does not experience a reset opportunity, and therefore does not indicate a reset action, continuing the sensor image accumulation operation.

[0386] Sensors like sa and sb, which identify the state where the actual transported items a and b are integrated, further travel up section 70b and reach... Figure 30 At position (a4), the rear end of the actual transported item b passes the second sensor unit 112b. Thus, the rear portions of sensor images sa and sb form an image having the width of the actual transported item b. Then, the point in time when the rear end of the actual transported item b passes the second sensor unit 112b and arrives at the transport module, i.e., when it reaches... Figure 30 At time point (a4), reflected light can no longer be obtained from the sensor unit, and the accumulation of sensor image sb ends. That is, as... Figure 30 As shown in (b4), the overall images of sensor images sa and sb were obtained at this time point.

[0387] Based on the accumulation in the time axis direction Figure 30 The sensors (b4), such as sa and sb, use the detection conveyor determination unit 156 to determine... Figure 30 The detection of transported items da and db (c4) is performed at this time. Figure 30 As shown in (d4), the virtual transports ia and ib are reset (reset) to the state of the detected transports da and db.

[0388] Subsequently, virtual transport items ia and ib travel on segment 70b with the transport action amount obtained by the virtual transport operation amount determination unit 185 from the transport state inference unit 162. Under the condition that actual transport items a and b are being transported normally, such as... Figure 30 As shown in (a4) and (d4), they exhibit the same motion as the virtual transports ia and ib.

[0389] The characteristic function of the conveying system 151 of the second embodiment described above, namely how the central control device 153 controls the conveying device 2 using the drive status detection unit 163, will be explained below.

[0390] As the first example, refer to Figures 31 to 35The control of the central control device 153 when the posture of the actual transported object a changes during the transport process is explained.

[0391] Figures 31 to 35 The figures are arranged with the left side of the figure representing the upstream and the right side representing the downstream, showing a part of the conveying device 2 that transports the conveyed material from upstream to downstream, and showing the progress of the conveyed material over time. Figures 31 to 35 The figures illustrate the section from the first segment 70a to the third segment 70c.

[0392] The transported material 'a' is transported from the leftmost first section 70a through the second section 70b to the third section 70c.

[0393] like Figure 31 As shown in (a1), assume that the actual transport object a is transported from the first segment 70a to the second segment 70b via the second sensor unit 112b. That is, it explains the case where, at the reset time (reset time) of the virtual transport object ia on the first segment 70a, at a position where the movement of the actual transport object a relative to normal operation is not delayed, it is reset to the same shape / size / orientation. At this time, assuming that the actual transport object a operates normally on the first segment 70a, the following explanation continues. In this case, as Figure 31 As shown in (d1), at the point in time when the transported object a is transported from the first section 70a to the second section 70b, the virtual transport object ia is a virtual transport situation with almost the same shape / size / posture as the actual transport object a.

[0394] Then, the actual transported object a temporarily does not change its attitude in the second segment 70b, such as... Figure 31 (a2) Figure 32 Proceed as shown in (a3) ​​and (a4), then, as... Figure 33 As shown in (a5), suppose that for some reason, the attitude of its front end tilted to the right relative to the direction of travel changes within the second section 70b. The actual transported object a maintains this rightward tilt of its front end relative to the direction of travel while... Figure 33 (a6) Figure 34 (a7), (a8) Figure 35 As shown in (a9) and (a10), it travels to the third section 70c via the third sensor unit 112c.

[0395] First, the control actions that occur when the actual transported object a passes the second sensor unit 112b and fully arrives at the second section 70b will be explained.

[0396] At this time, the actual transported object a is as follows: Figure 31 (a1), (a2) Figure 32As shown in (a3), it travels to the second segment 70b via the second sensor unit 112b, and upon reaching... Figure 33 When (a4) passes the second sensor unit 112b, including its rear end, it fully reaches the second section 70b.

[0397] like Figure 31 As shown in (a1), when the actual transported object a passes through the second sensor unit 112b and begins to receive reflected light, the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 uses the sensor image generation unit 155 to begin forming an image of the actual transported object captured by the sensor unit 112b. The acquired image then begins to accumulate.

[0398] Sensors like SA follow the press Figure 31 (b1), (b2) Figure 32 As (b3) progresses, the area of ​​the image increases. Here, as... Figure 32 As shown in (a4), assume that the actual transported object a is transported in an attitude parallel to the transport path until the rear end of the actual transported object a completely enters the second section 70b through the second sensor unit 112b. At this time, the sensor image sa becomes as follows: Figure 32 The image shown in (b4). The detection transport determination unit 156 of the drive condition detection unit 163 determines the transport based on this. Figure 32 The sensor (b4) like sa detects Figure 32 The detected transport da shown in (c4) is the transport that actually arrives at the second section 70b.

[0399] At the same time, at this reset moment, the virtual transport (ia) such as Figure 32 As shown in (d4), it is reset (reset) to be parallel to the transport path. That is, instead of adopting a tilted posture, it maintains the posture in the first section 70a.

[0400] Next, the control actions that occur when the actual transported object a passes the third sensor unit 112c and fully arrives at the third section 70c will be explained.

[0401] Let the actual transported item a be from... Figure 32 (a4) proceeded to Figure 33 During the process shown in (a5), its front end tilts to the right relative to the direction of travel, and then maintains this posture. Figure 33 The (a5) orientation is parallel to the transport path. As mentioned earlier, in Figure 33 In state (d5), the virtual transport ia is maintained. Figure 32 The repositioned conveying state in (d4) is the attitude parallel to the conveying direction. When the actual conveyed object a further moves on the conveying device 2 according to... Figure 33 (a6) Figure 34 (a7), (a8) Figure 35 When (a9) and (a10) pass through the third sensor unit 112c and fully reach the third segment 70c, including its rear end, the next reset moment arrives. Figure 35 (a10)).

[0402] When the actual delivery module is Figure 35 When in state (a10), the sensor becomes like sa. Figure 35 As shown in (b10). Based on the sensor image sa, the detection transport determination unit 156 of the drive condition detection unit 163 calculates the value of the transport transport determination unit. Figure 35 The shape / size / orientation detection of the (c10) conveyor da is used to reset it. Figure 35 The shape / size / orientation of the virtual transport ia in (d10). Then, the virtual transport ia with that shape / size / orientation travels on segment 70 until the next reset time.

[0403] As a second example, in the case of conveying three items, the latter two items overlap midway through the conveying process and are conveyed in this overlapping state. For the control of the central control device 153 in this situation, refer to... Figures 36 to 39 Please provide an explanation.

[0404] Due to the nature of the drawing, each section is depicted as much shorter than it actually is. Figures 36 to 39 The figures show a portion of the conveying device 2. Starting from the upstream side (left side of the figure), there are a first section 70a, a second section 70b, a third section 70c, a fourth section 70d, and a fifth section 70e on the downstream side (right side of the figure). A first sensor unit 112a (not shown) is located at the upstream front end of the first section 70a, a second sensor unit 112b is located at the upstream front end of the second section 70b, a third sensor unit 112c is located at the upstream front end of the third section 70c, a fourth sensor unit 112d is located at the upstream front end of the fourth section 70d, and a fifth sensor unit 112e is located at the upstream front end of the fifth section 70e.

[0405] Let the initial state be the condition where three actual transported items a, b, and c are transported normally along the transport path in this order, and the three transported items reach the reset time. Figure 36 The states of (a1), (b1), (c1), and (d1) are used to explain the subsequent transport process.

[0406] Conveying device 2, for example Figure 36As shown in (a1), at this point in time, the actual transported item a is located at the reset time position within the fourth segment 70d, the actual transported item b is located at the reset time position within the third segment 70c, and the actual transported item c has reached the reset time position within the second segment 70b. Therefore, the detected transported items da, db, and dc of the actual transported items a, b, and c become as follows: Figure 36 The image shown in (c1) is based on which the virtual transports ia, ib, ic are... Figure 36 As shown in (d1), it is reset (reset). In addition, since the actual transports a, b, and c are operating normally, the virtual transports ia, ib, and ic are reset to have almost the same shape / size / orientation as the actual transports.

[0407] Next, as Figure 36 As shown in (a2), assume that the actual transported items a and c are transported normally, but the actual transported item b stops moving in the third section 70c for some reason.

[0408] At this time, the actual transported object a is as follows: Figure 36 (a2) Figure 37 As shown in (a3), normal operation continues from section 70d to section 70e. When the actual transported object a passes the fifth sensor unit 112e and is transported to the fifth section 70e, the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 uses the sensor image generation unit 155 to generate an image as shown in (a3). Figure 36 (b2) Figure 37 The sensor images shown in (b3) and (b4) are sa. Since the actual transport object a continues to operate normally, it can be inferred that when the fifth segment 70e reaches the reset time, the transport object determination unit 156 of the drive status detection unit 163 will calculate the transport object da. Furthermore, it can be inferred that based on the transport object da calculated from the sensor image sa, the reset unit 16 will generate a virtual transport object ia that is almost identical in shape / size / orientation to the actual transport object a.

[0409] The actual transported material c within the third section 70c is also as follows Figure 36 (a2) Figure 37 As shown in (a3), the inferred conveying action continues. Therefore, when the actual conveyed object c passes the third sensor unit 112c and is conveyed to the third section 70c, the drive status detection unit 163 of the central control device 153 uses the sensor image generation unit 155 to generate an image as shown in (a3). Figure 37 (b3), (b4) Figure 38(b5) shows the sensor image sc that accompanies the actual transported object c as it moves. Then, when the third sensor unit 112c no longer receives reflected light, i.e., when the reset time arrives, the transported object determination unit 156 of the drive status detection unit 163 calculates... Figure 38 (c5) is used as the detection conveyor dc. At this reset moment, the reset unit 16 will... Figure 38 The virtual transport ic (d5) is set as the new virtual transport ic. However, the actual transport situation is as follows: Figure 38 (a5) shows the overlapping state of the actual transported items b and c. The actual transport status cannot be determined at this reset moment.

[0410] Next, the movement of the actual transported object b will be explained. For example... Figure 36 As shown in (a2), assume that the actual transported item b ceases to move within the third section 70c. Furthermore, as... Figure 37 As shown in (a3) ​​and (a4), suppose that the actual transported object b remains stationary in the third segment 70c, but the actual transported object c approaches and eventually overlaps the actual transported object b. Then, suppose that in this state, the actual transported objects b and c become one and begin to move forward.

[0411] On the other hand, virtual transport objects such as IB Figure 36 As shown in (d1), it is reset (reset), and thereafter the virtual transport ib follows Figure 36 (d2) Figure 37 (d3), (d4), Figure 38 (d5) is transported. Figure 38 In (d5), the virtual transport object ib is in a state where it has been completely transported to the fourth segment 70d, including its rear end, via the fourth sensor unit 112d. However, as previously mentioned, the actual transport object b ceases to move in the third segment 70c, becoming what should have been its destination. Figure 38 The (c5) detection indicates that the transport db does not exist. Therefore, at this reset moment, the virtual transport ib will be reset (reset) to the "none" state.

[0412] after, Figure 38 The actual transported items (b, c) overlap with (a5) Figure 38 (a6) Figure 39 As shown in (a7) and (a8), it is conveyed from the third section 70c to the fourth section 70d through the fourth sensor unit 112d. Figure 39In (a8), the actual transported objects b and c in the overlapping state are completely transported to the fourth segment 70d, including their rear ends, thus reaching the next reset moment. At this time, the sensor images sb and sc obtained by accumulating the images of the actual transported objects captured by the fourth sensor unit 112d on the time axis become as follows: Figure 39 The image shown is (c8). Based on the sensor images sb and sc, the detection transport determination unit 156 of the drive state detection unit 163 calculates... Figure 39 The detected conveyor (c8) is reset (reset) by the reset unit 16. Figure 39 The virtual transport items ib and ic are (d8). As described above, when overlap occurs, the occurrence of overlap can be identified in the downstream section 70d of the overlapping section 70c. Furthermore, when the widths of the actual transport items b and c are different, it is possible to identify which of the actual transport items b and c, transported in the overlapping state, was transported first. In addition, since it is possible to confirm the existence of two actual transport items, it is possible to determine that no transport item has been removed.

[0413] Furthermore, when such overlap occurs, it can be eliminated, for example, by implementing controls such as first increasing the conveyor speed and then suddenly decreasing it. This overlap detection function can also be used as a trigger to determine whether to implement such controls, a feature that can provide significant advantages in applications.

[0414] At this time, for example, using Figure 43 The conveying module 136 shown can set different conveying speeds for different positions within the section 70. That is, the conveying module 136 includes multiple conveying cells 141, and each conveying cell 141 includes a traveling motor 149. Thus, when the rotational speed of the traveling motor 149 of each conveying cell 141 is set to different values, the conveying rollers 143 of each conveying cell 141 can be set to rotate at different speeds. For example, the first half of the section 70 can rotate at a high speed and the second half at a low speed, thereby eliminating overlap.

[0415] In addition, each conveying module 136 also has a rotary motor 148. Thus, by rotating the rotary motor 148, the direction of the turntable 146 can be changed. As a result, the direction of the conveying roller 143 can also be changed.

[0416] As a third example, in the case where a conveyed object temporarily stops moving due to snagging or other reasons, but is then pushed together by another conveyed object coming from behind, and continues to be conveyed as a single unit, the actions of segments 70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, and 70e are represented using [the symbols / methods]. Figures 40 to 42 An explanation will be provided. Regarding... Figures 40 to 42Due to the nature of the drawing, each segment is depicted as much shorter than its actual length. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the transported material is also assumed to move from the left side of the figure, i.e., the first segment 70a, to the right of the fifth segment 70e. The first segment 70a, second segment 70b, third segment 70c, fourth segment 70d, and the fifth segment 70e (downstream side of the figure) are arranged from the upstream side (left side of the figure). A first sensor unit 112a (not shown) is located at the upstream front end of the first segment 70a, a second sensor unit 112b is located at the upstream front end of the second segment 70b, a third sensor unit 112c is located at the upstream front end of the third segment 70c, a fourth sensor unit 112d is located at the upstream front end of the fourth segment 70d, and a fifth sensor unit 112e is located at the upstream front end of the fifth segment 70e. In this third example, although the first sensor unit 112a is not shown, its presence is assumed for the following explanation. In addition, only figures (a1) to (a6) that represent the actual movement of the transported objects are labeled with reference numerals.

[0417] As the initial state, such as Figure 40 As shown in (a1), suppose that the actual transported item a, including its rear end, has completely reached the third section 70c. At this time, the actual transported item b, including its rear end, has completely reached the second section 70b, i.e., reached the position for resetting. Furthermore, suppose that normal transport is performed at this time. Since it is in the above state, at this time, using the sensor image generation unit 155 of the drive status detection unit 163, the sensor images sa and sb of the actual transported items a and b become as follows. Figure 40 The image shown in (b1). Therefore, the detection transport determination unit 156, as shown... Figure 40 As shown in (c1), the detected transport items da and db are calculated. Based on this, the reset unit is used as follows: Figure 40 The virtual transport objects ia and ib are set as shown in (d1).

[0418] At this point, assume that the actual transported item 'a' is being transported normally. Therefore, as... Figure 40 (a2) Figure 41 (a3), (a4) Figure 42 As shown in (a5) and (a6), the actual transported material a was successfully transported from the third section 70c to the downstream fourth section 70d and fifth section 70e.

[0419] Therefore, using the virtual conveying motion determination unit 185 of the conveying state inference unit 162, the virtual conveying object ia is calculated. Figure 40 (d2) Figure 41 (d3), (d4), Figure 42 As shown in (d5) and (d6), the movement proceeds from the fourth segment 70d to the fifth segment 70e.

[0420] On the other hand, the actual transported item b, such as Figure 40 (a2) Figure 41 As shown in (a3), the movement stops due to some kind of snagging (jamming) or other reason. At this time, suppose that the actual transported object c, which is transported after the actual transported object b, is close to the actual transported object b, and finally, as shown in (a3), the movement stops. Figure 41 (a4) Figure 42 As shown in (a5), the actual transport object c contacts and pushes the actual transport object b. Furthermore, suppose that the force of the actual transport object c pushing the actual transport object b causes the jamming phenomenon of the actual transport object b to disappear, and the actual transport objects b and c move forward together on section 70.

[0421] At this point, the calculated virtual transport object ib is as follows: Figure 40 (d2) Figure 41 As shown in (d3) and (d4), the process proceeds from the second segment 70b to the third segment 70c, reaching... Figure 41 (d4). Here, the virtual transport object ib, including its rear end, fully reaches the third segment 70c via sensor unit 112c. Thus, the reset moment occurs. Here, the actual transport object b is as follows... Figure 40 (a2) Figure 41 As shown in (a3), it is temporarily in a stopped state before being pushed by the actual transported object c. Thus, as... Figure 41 As shown in (a4), the actual conveyed item b reaches the reset time of the third section 70c via the third sensor unit 112c, which is delayed by a considerable amount of time compared to the virtual conveying section ib. Therefore, at this reset time, as... Figure 41 As shown in (c4), no detected transport item db is generated. Therefore, at this reset moment, the detected transport item determination unit 156 of the drive status detection unit 163 determines that the virtual transport item ib does not exist, as... Figure 41 The (d4) symbol disappears.

[0422] At this time, as Figure 41 As shown in (a4), although there is a time delay, the actual transported object b is pushed by the actual transported object c and begins to move. Therefore, when the front end of the actual transported object b passes the third sensor unit 112c and is able to receive reflected light, the sensor image generation unit 155 begins the accumulation operation of the sensor image sb generated by the third sensor unit 112c. Here, the actual transported object b and the actual transported object c are in contact and transported as a single unit. Thus, the rear end of the sensor image sb is transported in contact with the sensor image sc, passing through... Figure 41 (b4) Figure 42 (b5) is formed as Figure 42 The sensor shown in (b6) resembles a conveyor, such as sb and sc.

[0423] Upon receiving the sensor data such as sb and sc, the drive status detection unit 163 generates a detection delivery determination unit 156. Figure 42 The detected conveyors db and dc are shown in (c6). Here, when the widths of the actual conveyors b and c are different, it is possible to identify which one is the actual conveyor b and which one is the actual conveyor c.

[0424] Furthermore, when such contact occurs, for example, by increasing the conveying speed of the preceding actual conveyor and decreasing the conveying speed of the subsequent actual conveyor, the interval between the conveyors can be restored to the normal interval. For example, by using the aforementioned Figure 43 The conveying module 136 shown can also achieve this response.

[0425] When using Figure 43 When the delivery module is identified, such as Figure 35 When the actual conveyed object is transported in an inclined state as shown in (a10), its orientation can be adjusted to be parallel to the conveying direction. For example, this can be achieved by setting the conveying speed of the upper conveying unit of the conveying module to be smaller than the conveying speed of the lower conveying unit.

[0426] When using Figure 43 When the delivery module is identified, such as Figure 42 When two actual transport items b and c are being transported in a state where the rear transport item pushes the front transport item as a single transport item, as shown in (a6), corrections can be made to separate the interval between the two transport items b and c so that they can be transported in this state. This can be achieved simply by setting the transport speed of the transport unit that contacts transport item b to be faster than the transport speed of the transport unit that contacts transport item c.

[0427] Furthermore, when using the conveying system 1 of the second embodiment described above, it is also possible to detect abnormalities caused by the removal or placement of conveyed items. That is, if the conveyed items have different widths or total lengths, by confirming the width or total length of the conveyed items being conveyed on the conveying module, it is possible to determine the missing conveyed items in the planned conveying schedule.

[0428] In the embodiments described above, a conveying state inference unit 162 is included, which makes inferences based on the straight-moving nature of the conveyed object. That is, in the above embodiments, the conveying state inference unit 162 has the function of inferring the conveying posture of the conveyed object when it is conveyed under the inferred conveying condition.

[0429] However, this embodiment is not limited to this structure, and the conveying state inference unit may not have the function of inferring the conveying posture of the conveyed object. That is, the conveying posture of the conveyed object can be based on the premise of straight movement, and the comparison unit can be used for comparison.

[0430] That is, the modified conveying system has a conveying device, multiple sensors and a comparison unit. The conveying device carries an actual conveyed object and causes the actual conveyed object to move. At least any one of the multiple sensors is a sensor group, which is composed of multiple sensor components arranged in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object. Using the information about the timing of the action of each sensor component detected by the sensor group, the parallel conveying and / or conveying posture of the conveyed object is detected. The comparison unit compares the normal conveying posture of the conveyed object with the actual parallel conveying and / or conveying posture of the conveyed object detected by the sensors.

[0431] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0432] 1. 151 Conveying System

[0433] 2 Conveying device

[0434] 5a First Section Sensor

[0435] 5b Second Section Sensor

[0436] 6 Conveying Module

[0437] 8 Information Reading Unit

[0438] 11 Conveyor Control Unit

[0439] 12, 162 Conveying Status Inference Unit

[0440] 13, 163 Drive Status Detection Unit

[0441] 15 Existing Regions

[0442] 16 Reset Unit

[0443] 20. Front boundary line

[0444] 21 Rear boundary line

[0445] Comparison Units 28 and 158

[0446] 30 Transported Goods Information Storage Unit

[0447] 35. Inference Pulse Operation Unit

[0448] 36 Front-end side expected conveying motion determination unit

[0449] 37. Back-end side expected conveying motion determination unit

[0450] 53 Front-end Comparison Unit

[0451] 55 Back-end Comparison Unit

[0452] 105a Virtual First Segment Sensor

[0453] 105b Virtual Second Segment Sensor

[0454] 112 Sensor group (sensor unit)

[0455] 121 Sensor components.

Claims

1. A conveying system for transporting multiple items to their respective destinations, characterized in that: It has a conveying status inference unit, a conveying device, multiple sensors, and a comparison unit. The conveying status inference unit infers the inferred conveying status when the conveyed object is conveyed by the conveying device. The conveying device carries the actual transported item, thereby causing the actual transported item to move. The sensor is located at a predetermined position and is used to detect the actual items being transported on the conveying device. The comparison unit compares the inferred transport status of the transported item inferred by the transport status inference unit with the actual transport status of the transported item detected by the sensor.

2. The conveying system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The transport status inference unit can infer the operating period of the sensor under the inferred transport condition. The conveying system has a drive status detection unit that detects the timing of the sensor's operation under the actual drive status of the conveying device.

3. The conveying system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The conveying state inference unit can infer the rotation status of a specific component and / or the time taken to convey the conveyed object under the inferred conveying state. The conveying system has a drive status detection unit that detects the rotation status of a specific component and / or the time taken to convey the conveyed object.

4. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The conveying state inference unit can infer the conveying posture of the conveyed object under the inferred conveying state. At least one of the plurality of sensors constitutes a sensor group, which is composed of a plurality of sensor components arranged along a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object. As the actual conveying condition, information about the timing of the operation of each sensor component in the sensor group is used to detect the parallel conveying and / or conveying posture of the conveyed items. The comparison unit compares the transport posture of the transported object inferred by the transport state inference unit with the actual parallel transport and / or transport posture of the transported object detected by the sensor.

5. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The conveying device has a conveying component for rotating or traveling, which moves the conveyed object by performing the conveying action. The conveying state inference unit infers the expected conveying action amount at the front end. This expected conveying action amount is the minimum value of the conveying action amount expected when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. The conveying system includes a drive status detection unit, which is used to obtain the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. The comparison unit performs a front-end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the actual conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount at the front end.

6. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The conveying device has a conveying component for rotating or traveling, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform the conveying action. The conveying state inference unit infers the expected conveying action amount on the rear side. This expected conveying action amount on the rear side is the maximum value of the conveying action amount expected when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. The conveying system includes a drive status detection unit, which is used to obtain the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. The comparison unit performs a back-end comparison, comparing the actual conveying action amount when the back end of the actual conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount on the back end side.

7. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: If the comparison result from the comparison unit indicates a difference between the inferred transport condition and the actual transport condition, at least one of the following processes shall be performed: (1) Change the conveying speed of the conveying device, (2) Correct the inferred transport status of the transport status inference unit. (3) Change the destination of the transported goods. (4) Stop the conveying device. (5) Change the transport route, (6) Issue a notice.

8. A conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations, characterized in that: The conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying action, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform a conveying action. The conveying system has: The front-end prediction unit predicts the front-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the minimum predicted conveying action amount when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. A drive status detection unit is used to obtain the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device. and The front-end comparison unit compares the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the actual conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount at the front end.

9. A conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations, characterized in that: The conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying action, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform a conveying action. The conveying system has: The rear-end prediction unit predicts the rear-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the maximum value of the conveying action amount predicted when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. A drive status detection unit acquires the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device; and The back-end comparison unit compares the actual conveying action amount when the back end of the actual conveyed item is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount on the back end side.

10. A conveying system that uses a conveying device to transport multiple items to their respective destinations, characterized in that: The conveying device has a conveying component that performs a rotating or traveling conveying action, and the conveyed object is moved by causing the conveying component to perform a conveying action. The conveying system has: The front-end prediction unit predicts the front-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the minimum predicted conveying action amount when the front end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. The rear-end prediction unit predicts the rear-end predicted conveying action amount, which is the maximum value of the conveying action amount predicted when the rear end of the conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position under normal movement conditions. The drive status detection unit obtains the actual conveying action amount, which is the actual conveying action amount of the conveying device; The front-end comparison unit compares the actual conveying action amount when the front end of the actual conveyed object is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount at the front end. and The back-end comparison unit compares the actual conveying action amount when the back end of the actual conveyed item is detected by a sensor at a specified position with the expected conveying action amount on the back end side.

11. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: At least one of the plurality of sensors constitutes a sensor group, which is composed of a plurality of sensor components arranged in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object.

12. The conveying system according to claim 4, characterized in that: Based on the results of the detection action, the parallel transport of the transported items is eliminated or the transport posture is changed.

13. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that: When an anomaly is detected due to a delay or early arrival of the transported item, or the removal or placement of the transported item, the deviation between the inferred transport status and the actual transport status is reset, and the inferred transport status is reset according to the detected actual transport status.

14. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that: After the transported material arrives at or passes through the sensor, the inferred transport status is reset based on the detected actual transport status.

15. A conveying system for conveying multiple items to their respective destinations, characterized in that: It has a conveying device, multiple sensors and a comparison unit. The conveying device carries the actual transported item so that the actual transported item can actually move. At least one of the plurality of sensors constitutes a sensor group, which is composed of a plurality of sensor components arranged along a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the conveyed object. Using information about the timing of action of each sensor component detected by the individual sensor components of the sensor group, the parallel transport and / or transport posture of the conveyed material are detected. The comparison unit is used to compare the normal transport posture of the transported object with the actual parallel transport and / or transport posture of the transported object detected by the sensor.

16. The conveying system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that: The conveying path of the conveying device is branched into multiple branches, each with multiple conveying destinations. The sequence of transporting goods corresponds to their destination.

Images