Conveying device and conveying method

Abstract

This transportation device 100 comprises a coil 107 that includes a core 105 and a winding 106, a drive unit 108 for feeding a current to the winding 106, a current detector 109 for detecting the current value flowing through the winding 106, and a control unit 110 for calculating the position of a holder 102. The control unit 110 calculates the position of the holder 102 on the basis of the current value detected by the current detector 109 and a calibration curve obtained in advance, and changes the calibration curve used according to the manner in which a drive voltage is applied by the drive unit 108. A transportation device and transportation method with which it is possible to obtain unprecedented accuracy of detecting the position of a holder are thereby provided.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a transport device and a transport method for transporting a specimen. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of a laboratory sample delivery system and corresponding operating method that is highly flexible and provides high transport performance, Patent Document 1 describes a system comprising several holders, each of which has at least one magnetically active device, preferably at least one permanent magnet, adapted to carry sample containers, a transport plane adapted to carry the holders, and several electromagnetic actuators arranged stationary below the transport plane, the electromagnetic actuators adapted to move the holders above the transport plane by applying a magnetic force to the holders. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-77971 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As medical care becomes more advanced, the importance of sample analysis is increasing. To improve the analytical processing capacity of sample analysis systems, there is a demand for high-speed sample transport, simultaneous large-volume transport, and transport in multiple directions.

[0005] An example of such a technique is described in Patent Document 1.

[0006] The transport device in Patent Document 1 is designed to minimize the gap between adjacent container carriers (holders) in order to increase the sample transport capacity per unit area. However, the thrust acting on the holder pulsates between the coils due to the force of the permanent magnet being attracted to the coil shaft and the electromagnetic force caused by coil excitation, and the holder must be stopped while controlling this thrust. For this reason, it is difficult to achieve high-precision stopping positioning, and depending on the stopping accuracy of the holder, there is a risk of interference with adjacent holders in the worst case scenario.

[0007] To solve this problem, while the holder is normally controlled by applying current to one coil, it is possible to apply current to both the coil located directly below the stopping position and the coil located immediately after passing at the same time, thereby improving the stopping position accuracy by using the braking function of the coil located immediately after passing.

[0008] There is a technique for detecting the position of a holder having a magnetic body from the current that flows through the coil winding when a coil current is applied.

[0009] However, the inventors' investigations revealed that the accuracy of detecting the holder's position deteriorates because a deviation occurs in the calibration curve used to detect the holder's position when current is applied to one coil and when current is applied to two coils at the same time.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a transport device and a transport method that can improve the accuracy of detecting the position of a holder compared to conventional methods. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The present invention includes multiple means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and one example is a conveying device for conveying a conveying container containing a magnet or magnetic material, comprising a core and a coil including a winding, a drive unit for supplying current to the winding, a current detection unit for detecting the value of the current flowing through the winding, and a position detection unit for calculating the position of the conveying container, wherein the position detection unit calculates the position of the conveying container based on the current value detected by the current detection unit and a calibration curve obtained in advance, and changes the calibration curve to be used depending on how the drive unit applies a drive voltage. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, the accuracy of detecting the position of the holder can be improved compared to the prior art. Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a sample analysis system including a transport device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating an example of the configuration of a transport device according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating a schematic representation of the difference between an applied voltage waveform and a corresponding current waveform depending on the magnitude of inductance in the transport device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between an exciting coil (one coil) and a stop position of a holder in the conveyance device according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the excitation coils (two coils) and the stop positions of the holder in the conveyance device according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current amplitude and the distance between the excitation coil and the holder. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current amplitude difference and the distance between the excitation coil and the holder. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current value flowing through the coil and the current amplitude difference. [Figure 9]10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of a pattern for exciting two coils when the holder is stopped in the conveying device according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of a pattern for exciting two coils when the holder is stopped in the conveying device according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of a pattern for exciting two coils when the holder is stopped in the conveying device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The following describes an embodiment of the specimen transport device and transport method of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used in this specification, identical or similar reference numerals are used to designate identical or corresponding components, and repeated explanations of these components may be omitted.

[0015] Furthermore, it goes without saying that in the following examples, the components (including element steps, etc.) are not necessarily essential unless otherwise specified or unless they are clearly considered essential in principle.

[0016] First, the overall configuration of a sample analysis system equipped with a transport device will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a sample analysis system equipped with a transport device according to this embodiment.

[0017] The sample analysis system 1000 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is a system equipped with an analyzer for automatically analyzing components of samples such as blood and urine.

[0018] The main components of the sample analysis system 1000 are a plurality of transport devices 100 (12 in FIG. 1) that transport holders 102 (see FIG. 2) containing sample containers 101 (see FIG. 2, etc.) or empty holders 102 without sample containers 101 to a predetermined destination, a plurality of analytical devices 800 (4 in FIG. 1), and a control computer 900 that manages the sample analysis system 1000 in an integrated manner.

[0019] The analyzer 800 is a unit that performs qualitative and quantitative analysis of the components of the specimen transported by the transport device 100. The analysis items in this unit are not particularly limited, and the configuration of a known automatic analyzer that analyzes biochemical items or immunological items can be adopted. Furthermore, when multiple analyzers are provided, they may have the same specifications or different specifications, and are not particularly limited.

[0020] Each transport device 100 is a device that transports a specimen container 101 containing a specimen, which is mounted on a holder 102, to a destination (such as an analyzer 800 or an outlet) by sliding the specimen on a transport path due to the interaction between a coil 107 (see FIG. 2) and a magnetic body 103 (see FIG. 2) provided on the holder 102. Details will be described in detail using FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

[0021] The control computer 900 controls the operation of the entire system, including the transport device 100 and the analysis device 800, and is composed of a computer having a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an input device, a storage device, a CPU, memory, etc. The control computer 900 controls the operation of each device based on various programs recorded in the storage device.

[0022] The control processes for the operations executed by the control computer 900 may be integrated into one program, or may be divided into multiple programs, or may be a combination of these. Also, some or all of the programs may be realized by dedicated hardware or may be modularized.

[0023] 1, the case where four analyzers 800 are provided is described, but the number of analyzers 800 is not particularly limited and may be one or more. Similarly, the number of transport devices 100 is not particularly limited and may be one or more.

[0024] Furthermore, various specimen pre-processing / post-processing sections that perform pre-processing and post-processing on specimens can be provided in the specimen analysis system 1000. The detailed configuration of the specimen pre-processing / post-processing section is not particularly limited, and the configuration of a known pre-processing device can be adopted.

[0025] Next, the configuration of the transport device 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures.

[0026] First, a conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of the conveying device according to the present invention.

[0027] 2, a specimen container 101 containing a specimen is mounted on a holder 102. A magnetic body 103 is provided on the bottom surface of the holder 102.

[0028] The magnetic body 103 can be made up of a permanent magnet, another magnet, a soft magnetic body, etc. Although the magnetic body 103 does not need to be provided on the bottom surface of the holder 102, it is desirable to provide it on the bottom surface from the viewpoint of efficiently applying the conveying force in the conveying method of the present invention.

[0029] The holder 102 slides on the conveying surface 104. To this end, a plurality of coils 107 are arranged below the conveying surface 104, each of which includes a cylindrical core 105 and a winding 106 wound around the outer periphery of the core 105.

[0030] A driving unit 108 is connected to the windings 106 that make up each coil 107, and by applying a predetermined voltage to the coils 107 using this driving unit 108, a predetermined current can be passed through the windings 106.

[0031] At this time, the coil 107 is excited and acts as an electromagnet, attracting the magnetic body 103 provided on the underside of the holder 102 on the transport surface 104. By repeating this procedure for all coils 107 that make up the transport path to the target position, the sample container 101 mounted on the holder 102 can be transported to the destination point on the transport surface 104.

[0032] Generally, when a voltage is applied to coil 107 and a current flows through it, a magnetic field is generated around it, and the magnitude of the generated magnetic flux is proportional to the value of the current that flows. This proportionality constant is called inductance.

[0033] When holder 102 is located near coil 107, a magnetic flux (magnetic field) created by magnetic body 103 is generated in core 105. Therefore, the magnetic flux (magnetic field) caused by magnetic body 103 and the magnetic flux (magnetic field) generated by the current flowing through coil 107 are generated in core 105. In particular, the magnitude of the magnetic flux generated in core 105 changes depending on the relative positions of magnetic body 103 and coil 107.

[0034] On the other hand, core 105 is made of a magnetic material, and as the magnetic flux passing through core 105 increases, it becomes more difficult for the magnetic flux to pass through. This characteristic is known as magnetic saturation. For this reason, in a magnetic circuit having a magnetic material such as core 105, when the magnetic flux generated in core 105 increases and core 105 becomes saturated, the inductance decreases. In other words, when the magnetic field from magnetic material 103 increases and core 105 becomes magnetically saturated, the magnetic permeability decreases, causing a change in the current flowing through winding 106 (coil 107).

[0035] Fig. 3 is a waveform diagram illustrating a voltage waveform 201 applied to the coil 107 by the transport device and a corresponding current waveform. Fig. 3(a) shows the voltage waveform 201 applied to the coil 107 and a current waveform 202a that flows through the coil 107 when the holder 102 is not present near the coil 107. Fig. 3(b) shows the voltage waveform 201 applied to the coil 107 and a current waveform 202b that flows through the coil 107 when the magnetic body 103 of the holder 102 approaches the coil 107 and the core 105 is magnetically saturated.

[0036] That is, when the coil 107 is not affected by the magnetic body 103 of the holder 102, the current amplitude is as shown in Fig. 3(a). On the other hand, when the magnetic body 103 of the holder 102 is present near the coil 107 and is affected by it, the current amplitude is larger than that of Fig. 3(a), as shown in Fig. 3(b).

[0037] From these facts, it can be said that the current amplitude changes depending on the distance between holder 102 and coil 107, and that the distance between holder 102 and coil 107, i.e., the position of holder 102, can be estimated from the difference in current amplitude.

[0038] The current flowing through the winding 106 of the coil 107 during this transport is detected by the current detection unit 109. The current flowing through the winding 106 of the coil 107 detected by the current detection unit 109 is digitized by the control unit 110.

[0039] The control unit 110 of this embodiment calculates the position of the holder 102 based on the current flowing through the winding 106 of the coil 107 detected by the current detection unit 109. In this embodiment, however, the control unit 110 particularly calculates the position of the holder 102 based on the current value detected by the current detection unit 109 and a calibration curve that has been determined in advance, and executes a process of changing the calibration curve to be used depending on how the drive voltage is applied by the drive unit 108.

[0040] This control unit 110 may be a part of the control computer 900 described above, or may be independent.

[0041] Next, details of the control process in the control unit 110 will be explained below with reference to FIG. 4 and subsequent figures.

[0042] First, the background to the invention will be explained with reference to Fig. 4 to Fig. 8. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the excitation coil (coil 1) and the stop position of the holder, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the excitation coil (coil 2) and the stop position of the holder. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current amplitude and the distance between the excitation coil and the holder, Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current amplitude difference and the distance between the excitation coil and the holder, and Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the current value flowing through the coil and the current amplitude difference.

[0043] As described above, in electromagnetic transport, the sample container 101 is transported via the holder 102. Specifically, the coil 107 located directly below the holder 102 in the direction of travel, just above which the holder 102 is about to pass, is excited. This causes the holder 102 to move while in contact with the transport surface 104. When the holder 102 is to be stopped just above the coil 107 that will serve as the stopping position, the stopping coil 107a located just below the holder 102 in the direction of travel, just above which the holder 102 is about to be stopped, is also excited (see FIG. 4).

[0044] Here, when holder 102 moves, the bottom of holder 102 slides against the upper surface of conveying surface 104. Therefore, by reducing the friction between the bottom of holder 102 and the upper surface of conveying surface 104 that occurs during sliding, holder 102 can be conveyed with less energy.

[0045] However, with low sliding friction, energy is required when decelerating the holder 102. This is because it is necessary to provide energy for deceleration to compensate for the inability of the deceleration brake due to friction to function.

[0046] In electromagnetic transport, the equivalent of energy is the current applied to the coil 107 .

[0047] Therefore, in order to decelerate the holder 102, a current is applied to the coil 107 so as to apply an attractive force acting on the lower side of the conveying surface 104 to the holder 102 that has passed by. This serves as a brake function (see FIG. 5).

[0048] Furthermore, when stopping the holder 102, it is required to minimize the positional deviation from directly above the coil 107, and therefore highly accurate stopping control is required.

[0049] In particular, for highly accurate stopping positioning, it is desirable to simultaneously apply current to two coils 107, the stopping coil 107a and the immediately-after-passing coil 107b, as shown in FIG. 5, rather than exciting only the stopping coil 107a as shown in FIG. 4.

[0050] In this case, the role of the stopping coil 107a located in front of the holder 102 is to pull the front of the holder 102 to the stopping position. In contrast, the role of the just-after-passing coil 107b located behind the holder is to brake the holder 102.

[0051] However, as a result of careful investigation by the inventors, it became clear that the characteristics of the calibration curve differ when only a single coil 107 is excited and when two coils 107 are excited simultaneously.

[0052] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, it was found that the current amplitude with respect to the distance between the exciting coil and the holder differs between the case where two coils 107 are excited simultaneously and the case where a single coil 107 is excited.

[0053] For example, when the excitation current of coil 107 is 0.09 [A], the current amplitude when two coils are excited simultaneously is larger than the current amplitude when one coil is excited. This is also the case when the excitation current of coil 107 is 0.11 [A] or 0.20 [A]. This is due to the influence of magnetic saturation, and it is easy to imagine that the characteristics will be similarly different when three or more coils are excited simultaneously.

[0054] Here, the calibration curve means a graph showing the correspondence relationship between the detected current value and the position of the holder 102, which is obtained by measurement in advance, and is, for example, the relationship shown in FIG.

[0055] Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 110 estimates the holder position from the current value that flows when the drive voltage is applied, and changes the calibration curve depending on how the drive voltage is applied.However, when the drive voltage is applied to multiple coils 107 simultaneously, a calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils is used.

[0056] In this case, the calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils is obtained under the condition that the same number of coils 107 are excited without the holder 102. For example, the calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of two adjacent coils is obtained under the condition that the two adjacent coils are excited simultaneously without the holder 102. The reason for this will be explained below with reference to FIG. 8.

[0057] 8, the dashed line indicates the condition with holder 102 (1 coil excitation) - without holder 102 (1 coil excitation), the solid line indicates the condition of 2 coil excitation (with holder) - without holder (2 coil excitation) in four directions, up, down, left, and right (see Fig. 9), and the dashed line indicates the difference in current amplitude values ​​obtained under the condition of 4 directions, up, down, left, and right, with holder 102 (2 coil excitation) - without holder 102 (1 coil excitation). Note that the reason for using the condition of 4 directions, up, down, left, and right (see Fig. 9) for simultaneous excitation of 2 coils is because the current characteristics differ depending on the coil position, up, down, left, and right.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 8, the four dashed dotted lines, which are the differences in current amplitude values ​​obtained under the conditions with the holder 102 (two coils excited) and without the holder 102 (one coil excited), show large deviations.

[0059] In comparison, the solid lines, which represent the difference in current amplitude values ​​obtained under the conditions of two-coil excitation (with holder) and no holder (two-coil excitation), show a small deviation between the four lines, despite two coils being excited simultaneously, indicating that the different current characteristics due to coil position can be canceled out.

[0060] Therefore, it is desirable to use a calibration curve obtained under the condition that the same number of coils 107 are excited in the absence of the holder 102 when the two coils are excited simultaneously.

[0061] In the conveying device 100, the coils 107 are laid out, and when one coil 107 is excited, if a holder 102 exists on the coil 107 adjacent to the coil 107 on the top, bottom, left, or right sides of the coil 107, the holder 102 is attracted to the coil 107. In other words, there is a risk that the multiple holders 102 placed thereon may easily collide with each other.

[0062] To prevent this more reliably, it is preferable to arrange the coils 107 in a grid pattern with every other column and row as shown in Fig. 9, etc., rather than densely packing the coils 107. In this case, in particular, the coils 107 at positions where there are adjacent coils 107 in either the up, down, left, or right direction as shown in Fig. 9, etc. are designated as coils 107d for which the holder 102 may stop, and the coils at positions where there are adjacent coils 107 in either the up, down, left, or right direction as coils 107c for which the holder 102 will not stop.

[0063] This makes it possible to omit the coil 107 in the area outside the transport path, which has the additional effect of reducing the cost of parts and reducing the weight.

[0064] In this case, there are a total of seven excitation patterns for simultaneous excitation of two coils, as shown in Figures 9 to 11. Figures 9 to 11 are diagrams showing examples of patterns for exciting two coils when the holder is stopped.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 9, the calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils assumes that there are four patterns of movement from coil 107c, where holder 102 never stops, to coil 107d, where holder 102 may stop.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 10, there are two patterns for movement from the coil 107d where the holder 102 may stop to the coil 107c where the holder 102 does not stop.

[0067] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, it is assumed that there is one pattern of movement from a coil 107c where the holder 102 does not stop to a coil 107c where the holder 102 does not stop.

[0068] Returning to FIG. 6, it has become clear that not only when multiple coils are excited simultaneously, but also when one coil 107 is excited, the current amplitude difference varies when the absolute value of the current applied to coil 107 varies.

[0069] Specifically, even when one coil is excited, the difference in current amplitude differs when the applied current value is 0.09 A, 0.11 A, or 0.20 A. This is also true when multiple coils are excited simultaneously, and it can be seen that even when the same number of coils are excited simultaneously, the current amplitude value differs if the absolute value of the applied current value differs.

[0070] Therefore, when applying a drive voltage to a single coil 107, the control unit 110 of this embodiment uses a calibration curve for exciting a single coil, but particularly when applying a drive voltage to a single coil 107, the calibration curve is changed depending on the current value to be applied.

[0071] Similarly, when applying drive voltages to a plurality of coils 107 simultaneously, the control unit 110 of this embodiment uses a calibration curve for exciting a plurality of coils, but changes the calibration curve depending on the applied current value.

[0072] Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described.

[0073] The conveying device 100 of the present embodiment described above comprises a coil 107 including a core 105 and a winding 106, a driving unit 108 that supplies current to the winding 106, a current detection unit 109 that detects the value of the current flowing through the winding 106, and a control unit 110 that calculates the position of the holder 102. The control unit 110 calculates the position of the holder 102 based on the current value detected by the current detection unit 109 and a calibration curve that has been determined in advance, and by changing the calibration curve to be used depending on how the driving voltage is applied by the driving unit 108, the accuracy of detecting the position of the holder can be improved compared to conventional methods.

[0074] Furthermore, when applying drive voltages to multiple coils 107 simultaneously, the control unit 110 uses a calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils to maintain the position detection accuracy of the holder 102 and stop the holder 102 at the target position with high accuracy. Although the effect varies depending on the applied current value, it is possible to eliminate deviations in position detection of about 30%.

[0075] In particular, when a drive voltage is applied simultaneously to a plurality of coils 107, the effect can be enhanced by changing the calibration curve depending on the applied current value.

[0076] Furthermore, when applying a drive voltage to a single coil 107, the control unit 110 uses a calibration curve for when a single coil is excited. In particular, when applying a drive voltage to a single coil 107, the control unit 110 can change the calibration curve depending on the applied current value, thereby maintaining the position detection accuracy of the holder 102 and stopping the holder 102 at the target position with high accuracy.

[0077] Furthermore, by using a calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils obtained under conditions in which the same number of coils 107 are excited without the holder 102 present, it is possible to create a calibration curve with higher accuracy, thereby further improving the accuracy of position detection of the holder 102.

[0078] Furthermore, the calibration curves for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils include four patterns of movement from coil 107c, where holder 102 never stops, to coil 107d, where holder 102 may stop, two patterns of movement from coil 107d, where holder 102 may stop, to coil 107c, where holder 102 never stops, and one pattern of movement from coil 107c, where holder 102 never stops, to coil 107c, where holder 102 never stops, thereby covering all necessary patterns.

[0079] <Other> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications are possible. The above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to having all of the described configurations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0080] 100...Transportation device 101...Specimen container 102...Holder 103...Magnetic material 104...Transport surface 105...Core 106...winding 107...Coil 107a...Stop coil 107b...coil immediately after passing 107c... Coil with holder that never stops 107d... Coils where the holder may stop 108...Drive unit 109...Current detection unit 110...Control unit 201...Voltage waveform 202a...Current waveform 202b…Current waveform 800…Analyzer 900...Control computer 1000...Sample analysis system

Claims

1. A conveying device that conveys a conveying container containing a magnet or a magnetic material, a coil including a core and a winding; a driver that supplies current to the winding; a current detection unit that detects a value of a current flowing through the winding; a position detection unit that calculates the position of the transport container, The position detection unit calculating a position of the transfer container based on the current value detected by the current detection unit and a calibration curve that has been obtained in advance; The calibration curve to be used is changed depending on how the driving voltage is applied by the driving unit. A conveying device characterized by:

2. 2. The conveying device according to claim 1, When the position detection unit simultaneously applies a drive voltage to the plurality of coils, the position detection unit uses a calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of the plurality of coils. A conveying device characterized by:

3. 3. The conveying device according to claim 2, The position detection unit changes the calibration curve depending on the applied current value when a drive voltage is applied to the plurality of coils simultaneously. A conveying device characterized by:

4. 2. The conveying device according to claim 1, When applying a drive voltage to a single coil, the position detection unit uses a calibration curve for excitation of a single coil. A conveying device characterized by:

5. 5. The conveying device according to claim 4, When a drive voltage is applied to the single coil, the position detection unit changes the calibration curve depending on the applied current value. A conveying device characterized by:

6. 3. The conveying device according to claim 2, The calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of the plurality of coils is obtained under the condition that the same number of coils are excited in the absence of the transport container. A conveying device characterized by:

7. 3. The conveying device according to claim 2, The calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of multiple coils is There are four patterns of movement from a coil where the transport container does not stop to a coil where the transport container may stop. There are two patterns of movement from a coil where the transport container may stop to a coil where the transport container does not stop. There is one pattern of movement from a coil where the transport container does not stop to a coil where the transport container does not stop. A conveying device characterized by:

8. A method for transporting a specimen contained in a specimen container held in a transport container equipped with a magnet or a magnetic substance, comprising: applying a current to a coil selected from a plurality of coils each having a core and a winding to attract or repel the transport container; and When calculating the position of the transport container based on the current value flowing through the coil and a calibration curve that has been obtained in advance, the calibration curve to be used is changed depending on how the drive voltage is applied. A transport method characterized by:

9. 9. The conveying method according to claim 8, When applying drive voltages to the plurality of coils simultaneously during the position calculation, a calibration curve for simultaneous excitation of the plurality of coils is used. A transport method characterized by:

10. 10. The transport method according to claim 9, When calculating the position, the calibration curve is changed depending on the applied current value. A transport method characterized by:

11. 9. The conveying method according to claim 8, When applying a drive voltage to a single coil during the position calculation, a calibration curve for excitation of a single coil is used. A transport method characterized by:

12. The conveying method according to claim 11, When calculating the position, the calibration curve is changed depending on the applied current value. A transport method characterized by:

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