JPH02231902A - Carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect abnormality immediately upon removal of secondary conductor from a regular moving face by normally monitoring the tip of the secondary conductor at the carrier side through a position detecting sensor. CONSTITUTION:A carrier 10 moves back and forth upon application of thrust from the thrust transmitting face of a linear motor 24 onto the secondary conductor 12 of the carrier 10, and the carrier 10 is guided along a rail 23 through contacting function between a traveling wheel group 11 and a traveling rail 23. Means for detecting variation of tip position is formed by crossing the optical axes 33, 33' of two sets of transmission type optical sensors 34, 34' comprising a light projector 31 and a light receiver 32 respectively in the vicinity of the center, where the cross point, i.e., a set point 35, is set in a space extended by a predetermined length from the tip of a secondary conductor 12 suspended regularly. When the position of the carrier 10 is shifted, the optical axes 33, 33' are blocked by means of the secondary conductor 12 and abnormality is detected through a detecting circuit 36.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is an improvement of a carrier inertial traveling type conveyance device using an electromagnetic linear motor, and in particular, a secondary The present invention relates to a conveyance device having a detection means for detecting a change in the position of the tip of a conductor.

(Prior technology) Electromagnetic linear motor (hereinafter abbreviated as linear motor)
Conventional conveying devices that have a carrier that inertially travels on a conveying path by receiving thrust from a secondary conductor rely on periodic inspections that are performed over a long period of time for maintenance and inspection for operation management. One of the inspection items in this case is to check whether the secondary conductor on the carrier side is bent.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, the bending occurs on the secondary conductor side because the amount of deflection of the secondary conductor to the left and right while the carrier is running is This is caused by exceeding the distance from the receiving surface. That is, in the linear motor, in order to efficiently transmit the thrust to the secondary conductor side, the distance between the aforementioned thrust transmission surface and the receiving surface is set narrow. Therefore, if the deflection of the secondary conductor while the carrier is running exceeds the design tolerance for the reasons described below, the secondary conductor and linear motor will come into contact and cause the secondary conductor to bend. .

In this case, the reason why the deflection of the secondary conductor becomes larger than the design value is, on the one hand, due to the presence of many curves on the conveyance path side, and on the other hand, due to various problems occurring on the carrier side, such as double deflection due to its own weight. This is thought to be caused by deformation of the secondary conductor, inertia that occurs during sudden acceleration or deceleration, or overload problems caused by centrifugal force at curves. If these causes appear in combination during long-term operation of the carrier, a large load will be applied to the wheels and axle of the carrier, and this will cause the secondary conductor to the thrust transmission surface of the linear motor to By changing the movement trajectory of
It is determined that this causes bending in the secondary conductor.

If such reductions are accumulated, the accuracy of the carrier suspension will deteriorate and this will lead to damage to the secondary conductor and linear motor. However, in the system that relies on periodic inspections as described above, even if a contact accident occurs between the secondary conductor and the linear motor several days after the inspection date, it cannot be detected or confirmed until the next inspection date, so the damage cannot be confirmed. It causes a situation where it gets bigger. Of course, it is possible to prevent this type of accident by shortening the interval between periodic inspections, but this solution results in very poor maintenance efficiency, so a new improvement measure has been awaited.

The present invention has been made in view of this situation, and is a novel method that can immediately detect when the secondary conductor on the carrier side, which is inertially traveling by an electromagnetic linear motor, deviates from its normal movement trajectory plane. The purpose of this invention is to provide a conveying device that is easy to use.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems) The configuration of the present invention to achieve this object is to provide a carrier that holds a secondary conductor and inertially travels on a conveyance path by receiving thrust from an electromagnetic linear motor. In the conveying device having the following, a detection means capable of detecting a change in the tip position of the secondary conductor itself with respect to the normal running surface of the secondary conductor is installed on the conveying path side.

(Function) The function of the present invention based on this configuration is that the tip of the secondary conductor on the carrier side can be constantly monitored using a position detection sensor.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective configuration diagram showing an example of a carrier inertial traveling type conveyance device using an electromagnetic linear motor to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a conveyance path in the conveyance device of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a main configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the secondary conductor tip position change detecting means which constitutes the main part of the present invention.

In each figure, the conveying device to which the present invention is applied includes a carrier, which is indicated as a whole by 10, and a trunk portion 21 on which the carrier 10 runs.
The transport path 20 includes a branch line portion 22 for loading and unloading the loaded items, and a tip position change detecting means 30, which will be described later, arranged along the main line portion 21.

Among these, the trunk portion 21 of the conveyance path 20 has a substantially U-shape with a bent portion 23a and both side walls 23b.
A running rail 23 having a cross section of , and a plurality of linear motors (
(primary side stator) 24. The linear motor 24 is connected to a secondary conductor 12 on the carrier 10 side, which will be described later.
The narrow gap 24 is designed to efficiently transmit the thrust force to the
The structure is such that the secondary conductor 12 can be sandwiched between the pair of thrust transmission surfaces facing each other with the space a interposed therebetween.

On the other hand, the carrier 1o is provided with a support base material 13 on its lower surface, and on both sides of the base material 13 are a pair of vertical wheels 11a that rotate while being in pressure contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the bent portion 23a on the traveling rail 23 side. .

Further, at the center of the lower surface of the support base 13, a plate-shaped secondary conductor 12, which is inserted into the gap 24a of the linear motor 24 in a non-contact manner, is provided in a vertically suspended state. .

As a result, the carrier 10 moves in the front-rear direction as its secondary conductor 12 is given thrust (electromagnetic force) from the thrust transmission surface of the linear motor 24, and at this time, the carrier 10 moves forward and backward, and at that time, the traveling wheel group 11 and the traveling rail 23 Due to the engagement action, the vehicle is guided along the rail 23 and prevented from vertically and horizontally swaying while traveling.

Now, the tip position change detecting means, generally indicated by 30, is a means for always detecting a change in the tip position of the secondary conductor 12 during traveling, and constitutes the main part of the present invention.

This tip position change detection means 30 has detection optical axes 33 and 3 each formed of a suitable light projector 31 and light receiver 32.
Two sets of transmissive optical sensors 34, 34' having 3'
, a set point 35 formed when the respective detection optical axes 33, 33' are combined by intersecting each other at approximately the center position, and one or both of the two sets of optical sensors 34, 34' are connected to the secondary A detection circuit 36 capable of outputting an abnormal state detection signal when detecting an abnormality in the position of the tip of the conductor 12, and the circuit 3
The transfer device stop circuit 37 is configured to forcibly stop the operation of the entire transfer device based on the detection signal from the transfer device 6.

Among these, the set point 35 is set in a space on a line extending by a predetermined value from the tip of the secondary conductor 12 in the normal hanging position. The distance that the set point 35 extends from the tip of the secondary conductor 12 and the intersection angle of the two sets of detection optical axes 33 and 33' are determined by the change in the tip shape of the secondary conductor 12 and the tip position of the secondary conductor 12. It shall be determined based on the detection accuracy and the design purpose. Also,
The two sets of transmissive optical sensors 34 and 34' do not need to be arranged in the same plane; one optical sensor 3 is arranged in a plane that has a different phase with respect to the traveling direction of the carrier 10.
4.34' may be arranged. Furthermore, instead of the transport device stop circuit 37, an alarm circuit that emits an alarm sound or alarm light may be connected to the detection circuit 36.

The operation of the illustrated embodiment having such a configuration will be explained below.

[When the posture of the secondary conductor is normal] When the secondary conductor 12 is in a normal hanging posture, the portion from the root to the tip of the secondary conductor 12 is vertical and the narrow gap 24a of each of the above-mentioned glue near motors 24 and passes through the narrow gap 24a as the carrier 10 moves. Therefore, while the transport device is in operation, both
The interval of 2.24a is maintained such that the thrust from the linear motor 24 is efficiently transmitted to the secondary conductor 12 side.

[When the attitude of the secondary conductor changes] The presence of a curve in the running rail 23, deformation of the carrier 10 due to its own weight, inertia caused by sudden acceleration or deceleration of the carrier 10, and overload caused by centrifugal force at the curve. If the posture of the secondary conductor 12 is bent due to such reasons, as shown in FIG. Shaft 33 or 33'
When the carrier 10 travels, the carrier 10 protrudes from the normal movement locus plane of the secondary conductor 12. Therefore, the optical sensor 34 or 3 whose detection optical axis 33 or 33' is blocked due to the abnormal posture of the secondary conductor 12
4' outputs an abnormal state detection signal to the transport device stop circuit 37 to forcibly stop the transport device itself, or activates an alarm circuit to notify that an abnormality has occurred.

In addition, even if the secondary conductor 12 comes off from the support base material 13 due to imperfections in the fixing method, the tip of the secondary conductor 12 can be moved to its normal position as shown in Figure (B). Although the detection optical axis 33 or 33' of one of the transmission type optical sensors 34 or 34' is interrupted due to the "deviation" from the movement trajectory plane, the transport device stop circuit 37
Alternatively, an alarm circuit is activated to notify that the conveyance device is in an abnormal state.

Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can be modified in various ways without changing the gist thereof. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a transmission type optical sensor is used as the tip position change detection means, but a so-called reflection type optical sensor is used in which the tip is reflected when the tip of the secondary conductor deviates from its normal movement locus plane. An optical sensor may be used instead, or a mechanically operated sensor such as a microswitch may be used in place of the optical sensor. Note that the number of distal end position change detecting means installed can be arbitrarily determined.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, when the present invention is used, it is possible to immediately detect an abnormality when the secondary conductor on the carrier side, which is inertially running by an electromagnetic linear motor, deviates from its normal movement trajectory plane. It becomes possible to realize a new conveyance device that can

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a carrier inertial traveling type conveyance device using an electromagnetic linear motor to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a conveyance path in the conveyance device of FIG. 1, and FIG. The figure is a main configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a means for detecting a change in the tip position of a secondary conductor, which is a main part of the present invention, and shows a cross section of a carrier and its conveyance path. Figures 4 (A) and (B) are state explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the detection means shown in Figure 3. In Figure 4 (A), the tip of the secondary conductor has swung left and right from its normal hanging position. Figure (B) shows the state when the tip of the secondary conductor is "shifted" downward or sideways from the normal hanging position in a substantially parallel manner. 10...Carrier, 12...Secondary conductor, 20...
Conveyance path, 23... Travel rail, 24... Linear motor, 24a... Slit, 30... Tip position change detection means, 33.33'... Detection optical axis, 34.34'. ...Transmissive optical sensor, 35... Setting point, 36... Detection circuit, 37... Conveyance device stop circuit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a conveyance device that has a carrier that holds a secondary conductor and inertially travels on a conveyance path in response to thrust from an electromagnetic linear motor, changes in the tip position of the secondary conductor itself with respect to the normal running surface of the secondary conductor are detected. A conveying device characterized in that a detecting means capable of detecting is installed on the conveying path side. (2) The detection means is comprised of a plurality of optical sensors arranged such that each detection optical path intersects at a space on a line extending by a predetermined value from the tip of the secondary conductor. 1. The conveyance device according to 1. (3) The conveyance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electromagnetic linear motor is a linear motor provided with thrust transmission surfaces that sandwich the secondary conductor from both sides thereof.