Method of setting a configuration in zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement

Abstract

Method of setting a configuration in zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement (1), the conveyor arrangement comprising: - a plurality of conveyor zones (2), each conveyor zone (2) is adapted to convey an object (9) from an inlet (I) of said conveyor zone (2) to an outlet (O) of said conveyor zone (2), - a plurality of zone controllers (11) adapted to control the operation of said conveyor zones (2); - optionally a central controller (14), adapted to provide control commands to the zone controller; - a data connection (13), connecting the zone controllers (11) and optionally the central controller (14) with each other; the method comprising the following steps: - receiving a definition of at least one configuration amendment by means of a first user interface (UI1); - receiving a selection of zone controllers out of said plurality of zone controllers by means of a second user interface (UI2), wherein said selection comprises more than one zone controller; - initiating said defined configuration amendment for said selection of zone controllers at once; - implementing said defined configuration amendment within said selected zone controllers.

Description

Method of setting a configuration in zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement DescriptionThe invention refers to a method of setting a configuration in zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement.WO 2024 / 149872 Aldiscloses a method for planning a conveyor arrangement comprising the following steps: using an IT planning tool by a user; by using the IT planning tool, arranging representations of a plurality of conveyor zones in a manner, so that an inlet of an downstream conveyor zone is linked to an outlet of an upstream conveyor zone; within the IT planning tool defining a plurality of destinations; performing an automated analysis of the arranged representations; based on the performed automated analysis, automatically generating a destination look up table, in particular a plurality of individual destination look up tables, indicating a list of zones and / or destinations, which are located downstream of each of the outlets of the respective junction zones.EP 3292 056 B1 discloses a method for setting up a control unit in a conveying arrangement, wherein a zone controller controls one or more conveying zones. Each conveying zone comprises a conveying drive for conveying an object through the conveying zone. The zone controller performs a self-configuration. The zone controller thereby receives a signal from each motor connection socket or sensor connection socket and determines from the comparison of the signal with a comparison value whether a conveying drive or a sensor is connected to a motor connection socket or sensor connection socket.US 2024 / 161745 A1 discloses a conveyor system, where a second computing device is communicably coupled to one or more first computer devices. The first computer device is a control device to control operation of a conveyor zone. In a first step an emulation section and a control section of the second computing device may display conveyor zones which the operator intends to control. The operator may select one of these conveyor zone using an interactive screen and the selected conveyor zone is displayed in the emulation section with the control buttons and indicators displayed in the control section. Subsequently the user can provide control commands for the selected control zone.Conventionally (see Interroll’s “Operating manual, MultiControl Al I Bl”, Version 3.2 (05 / 2023), section 6.2; accessible via https: / / www.interroll.com / products / unit-handling / controls / multicontrol-ai / ),setting a configuration of a zone controller is performed mainly by accessing each zone controller individually by a web interface. Since there are often provided a huge plurality of zone controller (sometimes more than 100 units) and each zone controller requires individual adaptions, it sometimes takes weeks to provide all the zone controller with the required configuration.It is the object of the present invention to provide an easy way of initially setting a conveyor arrangement into operation or updating a conveyor arrangement with amended configurations.The invention comprises a method according to the main claim; embodiments are subject of the subclaims and the description.The term “commissioning tool” refers in particular to a systematic and integrated support tool that supports in ensuring specific systems or equipment functionalities according to their intended functionality and the owner’s operational needs. It involves thorough tests, inspections, and documentation to verify that all components work efficiently together.It is used for newly-built arrangements or those still in the design and construction phases. It ensures, that all components of the conveyor arrangement operate as intended.The particular main effect of the idea is, that particular amendments to the configuration of zone controllers can be rolled out to a plurality of zone controllers in one action, without accessing each zone controller individually. This significantly reduces the effort for setting the conveyor arrangement into operation.In an embodiment, the method comprises the step of- distributing a notice of configuration amendment to the selected zone controllers, following the step of initiating;- implementing in each of said selected zone controllers said configuration amendment after said notice of configuration amendment has been received within a respective zone controller.Accordingly it is to be noted, distributing the notice of configuration of amendment may be separate to the step of initiating said configuration amendment. As an example, initiating may be a step, which will undoubtedly lead to a change of configuration in the selected zone. Whether this happens at the same time as the actual order is placed by sending the notice can be left open for the time being.In an embodiment, the step of initiating is fulfilled by receiving a user interaction (by receiving the notice, that the “apply button” was pressed, which undoubtedly provides the instruction to the tool, to distribute the configuration of amendment.There is made a distinguishment between the term “configuration amendments” and “control commands” within the context of the present application.A configuration amendment refer to changes made to the operational parameters or firmware of zone controllers - such as default speed, sensor presence, ZPA mode, or the number of motorized rollers. In particular a configuration comprises general instructions or parameters, on which the controller (to which the configuration refers to) is working and / or based on which the controller issues control commands. Accordingly, a configuration amendment is not a control command.In particular configuration amendments are performed during the commissioning phase or during maintenance, and are in an embodiment applied using a commissioning tool that is separate from the system's runtime control infrastructure.In contrast to the term “configuration amendment”, the term “control command” are, in particular real-time or just-in-time, instructions issued during regular operation of the conveyor system, such as commands to start or stop motors, or to route objects to specific destinations. These commands are typically generated by a central controller or by local logic within the zone controllers themselves. A control command has may cause a direct amendment of the actual operation.The present invention is directed toward the efficient and centralized application of configuration amendments to decentral zone controllers.The term “commissioning tool” refers to a software application designed to facilitate the configuration of zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement. This tool in particular provides user interfaces for defining configuration amendments and selecting zone controllers, to which said configuration amendments apply. The “commissioning computer”, on the other hand, is the hardware platform such as a laptop, tablet, or desktop PC - on which the commissioning tool runs. While the commissioning tool is the functional component responsible for executing configuration tasks, the commissioning computer serves as the physical device hosting the tool. The commissioning computer is not required during regular operation of the conveyor system and can be disconnected after configuration is complete. In an embodiment the commissioning tool may run on a central control computer.In particular the invention makes use of two different user interfaces, each supporting a specific function in the configuration process. A first user interface is a parameter editing interface, enabling the user to define the configuration amendment by selecting one or more parameters or a firmware file to be applied to the zone controllers. A second user interface is aselection interface, allowing the user to specify which of the plurality of zone controllers the defined configuration amendment should be applied to. This separation of roles ensures a clear and structured workflow, where configuration content and target selection are handled independently but in coordination.The phrase "without sequential controller access" means that the configuration amendment is not applied for one controller at a time, in a step-by-step or looped fashion, which is typical in conventional systems.An example embodiment of the invention is described in more detail with the help of the figures; herein show fig. 1 a conveyor zone in perspective view having a first embodiment light barrier; fig. 2 a basic conveyor arrangement; fig. 3. schematic representations of different conveyor zones; fig. 4 a conveyor arrangement, showing a plurality of conveyor zones; fig. 5 the conveyor arrangement, showing zone controller for controlling the plurality of conveyor zones; fig. 6 - 8 a commissioning tool connected to the conveyor zones in different situation during; fig. 9 a table allocating an IP address to a individual zone controllers within the conveyor arrangement of figure 4; fig. 10 a conventional web interface for amending parameters of a single individual zone controller.Figure 1 shows an exemplary conveyor zone 2, comprising several conveyor rollers 3 which are driven together. For this purpose, one of the conveyor rollers 3 is designed as a motor- driven conveyor roller 3M, in particular motorized roller 3M. The motor-driven conveyor roller 3M is driven in particular by a three-phase motor arranged in the motorized conveyor roller 3M. Via one or more drive connectors 4, e.g. a drive belt, the conveyor rollers 3 of a conveyor zone 2 are drive-connected to each other and are jointly driven by the motor-driven conveyor roller 3M. An object 9 is linearly conveyed from an inlet I to an outlet O along a conveying direction d.By means of a presence sensor 5, the presence of a conveyed object 9 arranged within the conveyor zone 2 can be determined. The presence sensor 5 thereby generates a sensor signal S5, which is connected via a signal line (not shown) to a local zone controller 11 presented further below. In the present embodiment the presence sensor 5 is a light barrier.The conveyor rollers 3 and the presence sensor 5 are attached to a common support frame 6. The conveyor rollers 3 of several conveyor zones 2 can be attached to a common support frame 6.The motor-driven conveyor rollers 3M are each controlled by at least one or a plurality of local zone controllers 11. A single zone controller 11 can control the motor-driven conveyor rollers 3M of several conveyor zones 2. A plurality of local zone controllers 11 are arranged in a conveyor arrangement 1 (figure 2), which communicate with each other via a data connection 13.Figure 2 shows a basic conveyor arrangement 1 , where conveyor zones 2a... e as described previously are used. A plurality of zone controllers 11 control the operation of the conveyor zones 2. A central controller 14 (e.g. programmable logic control) may be provided to control the overall operation of the conveyor arrangement 1.Scanners (not shown) may be arranged along the conveyor zones 2 and provide identification data relating to objects 9 passing the scanner in the conveyor zones 2. These identification data are sent via data connection 13 to the central controller 14. The central controller 14 has access to an object data base (not shown), which provides destination data based on the identification of the objects 9. Based on the acquired data the central controller 14 provides operation instructions to a local zone controller 11, how to handle the object 9, i.e. to which of the outlets O said object 9 is to be conveyed. For the proper operation it is not required that each conveyor zone is equipped with an own scanner for identifying the object located in each conveyor zone. As a consequence, some conveyor zones, usually one of the most upstream zones, are provided merely with a sensor for detecting merely the presence of an object 9, without identifying the object 9.In an alternative embodiment as described in European patent application 22 180 381.0, the central controller is an object data broker, to which the local zone controllers are also connected. The data broker provides destination data related to the identified objects 9 and the zone controllers 11 are adapted to control operation of the zones based on the provided destination data. For the purpose of the present invention the provision of a PLC is not required.In particular the local zone controllers 11 control the motor-driven conveyor rollers 3M in such a way that the successively approaching conveyed objects 9 do not collide with each other. The control takes place in such a way that essentially only one conveyed object 9 is present per conveyor zone 2. However, slight overlaps may occur. For example, an upstream conveyed object 9b located on an upstream conveyor zone 2c may already enter a downstream conveyor zone 2d even though the downstream conveyed object 9a has not yet left this downstream conveyor zone 2d completely. Among other things, the sensor signals S5 of the presence sensors 5 serve as input variables here, although it is ensured that the two conveyed objects 9 do not touch and thus do not damage each other.In the following course of the invention, reference is made to conveyor zones, using a schematic representation of said conveyor zones 2 as shown in figure 3. Here figure 3a represents schematically a conveyor zone 2 of figure 1 , which has one first inlet 11 and one first outlet 01. No more inlets and outlets are provided. The conveyor zone 2 can also be curved or from other shape.Figure 3b shows the representation of another conveyor zone 2 having an extended scope of operation. Here in addition to the conveyor zone 2 of figure 3a the conveyor zone 2 has an additional, second outlet 02. The object 9 can be conveyed selectively from said first inlet 11 to one of said first and second outlets 01, 02. Optionally, the conveyor zone 2 has an additional, third outlet 03. In this option, the object 9 can be conveyed selectively from said first inlet 11 to one of said first, second and third outlets 01 , 02, 03.As an example, said conveyor zone 2 of figure 3b can be formed by a conveyor zone 2 as shown in figure 1, which additionally is provided with a transfer device as described with reference to figure 5 of EP 3222 564 B1 (in this document and figure the transfer device is marked with the reference sign “20”).Figure 3c shows the representation of a conveyor zone 2 having an extended scope of operation. Here in addition to the conveyor zone 2 of figure 3a, the conveyor zone 2 has an additional second inlet I2. Objects 9 can be conveyed from one of said first and second inlets 11 , I2 to said first outlet 01.The transfer device as described with reference to figure 3b may also be suitable to provide said additional second inlet I2.Figure 3d shows the representation of a conveyor zone 2 having an extended scope of operation. Here in addition to the conveyor zone 2 of figure 1 the conveyor zone has anadditional second inlet 12 and an additional second outlet 02 and is an example as a combination of the embodiments of figures 3b and 3c.The conveyor zones 2 each are controlled by a local zone controller 11 as shown in figure 1 or 2, in particular wherein one local zone controller 11 may be adapted to control the operation of more than one conveyor zone 2.Reference is made to figure 4. Here a conveyor arrangement 1 is shown. The conveyor arrangement 1 comprises a plurality of conveyor zones 2 as shown in figure 3. For better individualization, the conveyor zones are provided with indices 2a0 - 2a7, 2e - 2q, 2r0 - 2r9, 2s0 - 2s9.The conveyor arrangement 1 comprises at least one feed-in station F1 , F2, where objects 9 can be put into the conveyor arrangement 1. The feed-in station F1, F2 may be attached to an outlet of an upstream conveyor arrangement (not shown). Close to the feed-in stations an identification scanner 7 is provided detecting an identification tag 97 (see figure 1) of objects 9 to be conveyed during normal operation. The identification scanner 7 may be a barcode I QR- Code reader or an RFID reader, depending on the identification tag 97 attached to an object.The conveyor arrangement 1 comprises a plurality of destinations D1 - D16, to which an object 9 can selectively be conveyed.Most conveyor zones 2 are of the type shown in figure 3a, merely having one inlet and one outlet, e.g. zones 2a0 - 2a7, 2e - 2h, 2j - 2m, 2o - 2q.Some conveyor zones 2 are junction zones of the type shown in figure 3b, having at least two different outlets, e.g. zones 2i, 2n, 2r1-2r3, 2r6- 2r8, 2s2 - 2s3, 2s6 - 2s8.The conveyor zones 2 are controlled by a plurality of local zone controllers 11 as shown in figure 5.Each of the zone controllers 11 are adapted to control at least one of the conveyor zones 2, in particular up to four conveyor zones per zone controller. Here the zone controller 11 are located in proximity of the zones, controlled by the respective controller. In particular each zone controller is attached to a frame 6 (see figure 1) of a conveyor zone. A zone controller controlling a junction zone, is also referred to as a junction controller.The zone controller are connected to each other in a daisy-chain manner by said data connection 13 (and https: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Daisy chain (electrical engineering) ). That means in particular, that a first zone controller 11a and a second controller 11b are connectedto each other via a data cable 13C, which is plugged into a socket of the first zone controller 11a and into a socket of the second zone controller 11 b; the second zone controller 11b and a third controller 11c are connected to each other via another data cable 13C, which is plugged into a socket of the second zone controller 11b and into a socket of the third zone controller 11c; etc. The first zone controller 11a may be connected in the same manner with the central controller 14 (see also figure 2).The main task of a local zone controller 11 is to arrange conveying operation of the related conveyor zone, thereby in particular initiating starting or stopping the drive motors of the zones depending on the sensor signals S5 of the presence sensors 5. In case that the zone is a junction zone, it is another task to initiate, that the object is taking the correct outlet of the plurality of outlets 01, 02, 03.For putting the assembled conveyor arrangement or for changing a configuration of one or more zone controllers, a commissioning tool 30 is used, as shown more detailed in figures 6 to 8. The commissioning tool 30 is an IT application running on a commissioning computer 16.The commissioning computer 16 may be a personal computer, including a tablet, desktop or laptop PC. The commissioning computer 16 is thereby a configuring device, which is not required during the regular operation of the conveyor arrangement.In particular the commissioning computer 16 is separate to a controller controlling the regular operation of the conveyor arrangement.Accordingly, the commissioning computer 16 may be connected for initial configuration of the zone controller and / or for amending a configuration of zone controllers. Afterwards, the commissioning computer 16 can be disconnected from the conveyor arrangement and regular operation is performed without the commissioning computer being connected to the conveyor arrangement.Excursus to conventional technology:Figure 10 shows a conventional web interface, via which a user has an editing access to the parameters of a single individual zone controller. In particular a communication path with said individual zone controller is established by addressing said individual zone controller via the data connection with its individual IP address (that is similar to accessing the configuration menu of a WLAN router within your WIFI home network). Therefore, in figure 10 the IP address is inserted in a URL-address field (see arrow P1). As soon as the communication path is established, a user has wide access to different configuration menus for adapting the configuration of said individual zone controller. In particular a user interface UI1 is providedwhere the user can amend an individual parameter of said individual zone controller or to select a firmware file for updating the firmware of said single zone controller. This conventional method has the drawback, that merely one zone controller can be configured at once. To configure all zone controller in a conveyor arrangement having hundreds of zone controller, this is a laborious and error-prone activity. End of Excursus.The commissioning tool 30 of figures 6 to 8 according to the present invention shows graphically in figure 6 a simplified representation of the conveyor arrangement 1 of figure 4. The commissioning tool 30 has now communication access via said data connection 13 to a plurality of zone controllers 11 within the conveyor arrangement 1.Figures 7 and 8 each shows an editing window of the commissioning tool 30 within the present invention. Here several user interfaces UI1 , UI2 are provided for user interaction. In first user interface UI1 a user can select a certain parameter (see figure 7), a set of parameters or a firmware (see figure 8), which should be amended within one or more zone controllers. By amending e.g. at least one of- a parameter,- a set of parameters and- a firmware, a configuration of said conveyor zone is amended. Accordingly the first user interface UI1 is a parameter editing interface.An individual zone controller is accessible for data communication via its IP address or alternatively with any other suitable kind of identification. An individual IP address is allocated to each of the zone controller as shown in the table of figure 9. In this respect reference is also made to the disclosure of European patent application 24187037.7.Within an second user interface UI2 a user can define, to which of the plurality of zone controllers the configuration change should apply. Accordingly, the second user interface UI2 is a selection tool, by which the user can select one or more or all of the zone controller to which parameter amendments, selected with the above parameter editing interface, should apply.After pressing the apply button, the configuration amendment initiated. Thereby, at first, the intended configuration amendment is communicated at to all of the selected zone controller by means of a notice N of configuration amendment (see figure 5). Here a MQTT protocol (https: / / en.wikipedia.org / wiki / MQTT) is a suitable way to communicate the configuration amendments to all relevant zone controller within the conveyor arrangement at the same time, but any other broadcast or publish-subscribe protocol may be suitable as well. At second, assoon as a relevant zone controller receives the notice N of configuration amendment, the amendment of configuration is implemented within said relevant zone controller. Since initiating the configuration amendment is performed for all the selected zone controller by the same command, the effort for a service person for configuring all the zone controllers within the conveyor arrangement is significantly decreased compared to the conventional way.In the following some exemplary parameters etc. are listed, for which it is useful to initiate amendment for a plurality of zone controllers at once. It is to be understood, that the inventive method is applicable for several other parameters.- default speed: The default speed defines the maximum conveying speed, at which objects are conveyed in case the conveying zone is not blocked by any other objects. Usually the neighboring conveyor zones are operated at the same default speed, so that a configured default speed is applicable to multiple zone controllers.- number of motorized rollers: In certain applications more than one motorized roller may be provided within one conveyor zone (see PCT / EP2024 / 053013), accordingly, this parameter defines, the number of motorized rollers within the conveyor zone, controlled by the respective zone controller.- ZPA mode: within the parameter a switch can be made between the block release and the single release. More general details referring to this parameter is described in US11320807B2, para

[0004] ,- sensor attached: this parameter defines, whether or not a presence sensor or any other sensor is attached to the zone controller. Further related parameter values can be defined as well.In addition, a file containing a set of parameters can be sent to the relevant zone controllers, so that all parameters mentioned in the set can be amended as well.In another embodiment, a new firmware as a configuration amendment can be selected and provided to all relevant zone controller.List of reference signs1 conveyor arrangement2 conveyor zone3 conveyor roller 3M motor-driven conveyor roller4 drive connector5 presence sensor6 support frame7 identification scanner (e.g. barcode reader) 9 object to be conveyed11 zone controller13 data connection 13C data cable14 central controller16 commissioning computer 30 IT commissioning tool 97 identification tagN notice of configuration amendmentD destinationF feed-in stationI inletO outlet d conveying direction S5 sensor signal (of presence sensor)Ul user interface

Claims

Claims1. Method of setting a configuration in zone controllers within a conveyor arrangement (1), the conveyor arrangement comprising:- a plurality of conveyor zones (2), each conveyor zone (2) is adapted to convey an object (9) from an inlet (I) of said conveyor zone (2) to an outlet (O) of said conveyor zone (2),- a plurality of zone controllers (11) adapted to control the operation of said conveyor zones (2);- optionally a central controller (14), adapted to provide control commands to the zone controller;- a data connection (13), connecting the zone controllers (11) and optionally the central controller (14) with each other; the method comprising the following steps:- receiving a definition of at least one configuration amendment by means of a first user interface (U 11 );- receiving a selection of zone controllers out of said plurality of zone controllers by means of a second user interface (UI2), wherein said selection comprises more than one zone controller;- initiating said defined configuration amendment for said selection of zone controllers at once;- implementing said defined configuration amendment within said selected zone controllers.

2. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that- distributing a notice (N) of configuration amendment to the selected zone controllers (11), following the step of initiating;- implementing in each of said selected zone controllers said configuration amendment after said notice of configuration amendment has been received within a respective zone controller.

3. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a step of defining and selecting is performed by means of a commissioning tool (30), the commissioning tool provides said user interfaces (III 1 , UI2).

4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said commission tool (30) is an IT application running on a commission computer (16).

5. Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said commissioning computer (16) is separate to a controller controlling the, in particular regular, operation of said conveyor arrangement (1). and / or the configuration amendment is applied during a commissioning or maintenance phase, outside of a regular mode of operation.

6. Method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said commissioning computer (16) is connected to the conveyor arrangement (1) for initial configuration and / or amending a configuration of a zone controller and is disconnected from the conveyor arrangement before or during regular conveying operation of the conveyor arrangement.

7. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the configuration amendment is applied to the selected zone controllers independently of runtime control operations, and wherein the configuration amendment is initiated and distributed from a single commissioning tool instance to a plurality of zone controllers without requiring individual controller access or operator presence at the physical location of the controllers.

8. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the configuration amendment is transmitted to the selected zone controllers usinga broadcast or publish-subscribe protocol, enabling simultaneous delivery without sequential controller access.

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