JPH03211192A - Automatic operation controller for overhead traveling crane - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cope with an external state variation quickly and proeprly and perform safety operation at all times by installing a safety check sensor, an area sensor, and a crane operation controlling means for checking the output of a counter doing an up-down counting according to a travel position, respectively. CONSTITUTION:When a crane is set to a zero position, X, Y, Z axes of counter contents are read by a zero position measuring means 22, and when they are of numerical values other than zero, a zero reset is carried out, thereby compensating the zero position data. When each of cranes 1-4 is traveled to the existing position of a work and this work is grasped by a hand, it is checked whether the desired work is properly grasped from each output of a work holding check sensor 14 and a work type checking sensor 15 or not. At time of traveling of these cranes 1-4, it is also checked whether there is the presence of an obstacle and they are traveling in conformity with a crane operation allowable zone or not from each output of an obstacle checking sensor 16, each of area sensors 9-13 and X, Y, Z axial counters.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic operation control device for an overhead crane that suspends and transports relatively heavy workpieces to a destination location, for example. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic operation control device for an overhead traveling crane with a complete fail-safe function.

(Prior Art) In this type of overhead crane system, a crane gutter is slidably attached to the overhead crane body that travels on the ceiling, and a crane mast that is supported so as to be movable up and down is lowered from the crane gutter. , the workpiece is grasped by the hand at the lower end of the crane mast and transported to the desired location. The operation of the crane, including the overhead traveling crane body and the crane gutter, ignores changes in the external situation and is performed based solely on the conditions entered in advance by the operator, in the same way as industrial robots. It is designed to automatically travel the route between.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the case of automated operation of an overhead traveling crane as described above, there is a problem that appropriate measures cannot be taken against sudden changes in external conditions. For example, if the workpiece is not sufficiently chucked by the hand, the workpiece gripped by the hand is different from the expected workpiece, or there is an obstacle on the travel route, in other words, an unexpected change in the situation has occurred. When the situation changes, it is not possible to promptly and appropriately issue safety instructions. Therefore, if the operation continues under such conditions, there is a problem that the workpiece may be damaged or fall, or the crane equipment may be damaged. Furthermore, when the operator issues an emergency stop instruction to cause a sudden stop, there is a problem that, for example, in the case of insufficient chucking, the workpiece may fall.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic operation control device for an overhead traveling crane that can quickly and appropriately respond to sudden changes in external conditions and ensure high safety. With the goal.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a crane that is suspended from a crane gutter that is slidably provided on an overhead traveling crane body that travels in a predetermined direction. In an automatic operation control device for an overhead traveling crane, which grasps a workpiece with a hand at the lower end of a crane mast and transports it to a predetermined location, the crane main body and the crane body that travels overhead in a positional relationship corresponding to the crane operation permissible zone and the necessary travel are used. a plurality of types of safety confirmation sensors including an area sensor provided in the road and a sensor for confirming workpiece gripping, a sensor for confirming workpiece type, a sensor for confirming obstacles, etc. attached to a predetermined part of the hand;
X to count up and down according to the traveling position of the crane including the overhead traveling crane body and crane gutter
axis, Y axis.

a Z-axis counter; if necessary, an origin position measuring means for resetting the position data of the counter to zero when the crane is set to the origin position in the crane operation permissible area; When a workpiece at a predetermined position is gripped by a hand, safety is confirmed from the output of the safety confirmation sensor, and when the crane is traveling, outputs of the desired safety confirmation sensor, the area sensor, and the counter are checked. This configuration also includes crane operation control means for driving the crane.

(Function) The present invention employs the above-mentioned means, so that when the crane is set at the home position, the home position measuring means reads the contents of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis counters and detects the values other than zero. When the value is , zero reset is performed to correct the origin position data.

In addition, when the crane moves to the workpiece location and the hand grips the workpiece, it is checked whether the desired workpiece is being gripped properly based on the output of the workpiece gripping confirmation sensor and workpiece type confirmation sensor, for example. However, when the crane is moving, there are sensors for detecting obstacles, area sensors, and the X and Y axes.

By performing traveling operations while checking the presence of obstacles based on the output of the Z-axis counter and whether or not the crane is traveling within the allowable range of crane operation, it is always possible to quickly respond to sudden changes in external conditions. In addition, the failsafe function can be operated appropriately.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Figure 1 is a planar layout diagram of the crane traveling, Figure 2 is a diagram showing how the sensor is mounted on the hand, Figure 3 is a diagram showing the state of chucking a workpiece by the hand, and Figure 4 is a diagram showing the state of the hand. FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of the invention device.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an overhead traveling crane main body that travels in the direction of the arrow (A) shown in the drawing, and a lane gutter 2 is attached to this crane main body 1 so as to be slidable in the direction of the arrow (B) shown in the drawing. A crane mast 4 holding a hand 3 is supported by the crane gutter 2 so as to be movable up and down.

The crane is composed of an overhead traveling crane body 1, a crane gutter 2, a hand 3, a crane mast 4, and the like. Reference numeral 5 denotes a crane operation permissible area zone which is virtually represented by a dotted line, 6 is a crane operation origin position, and 7 and 8 are teaching points which are target operation points, all of which are included within the crane operation permissible area band. This is applied, for example, when a workpiece is gripped from the teaching point 7 and transported to the teaching point 8. 91-9
4 is an X-axis head area sensor, 10, 11.12 is a Y-axis head area sensor, and when the overhead traveling crane main body 1 travels in the Y-axis direction and reaches the corresponding X-axis head area sensor position 91 to 94. detects the light from the protrusion or light-emitting element with a limit switch or light-receiving element on the overhead traveling crane main body 1,
Also, when the crane gutter 2 travels in the Y-axis direction and reaches the Y-axis head area sensor 10, 11°12, a protrusion or a
The light from the light receiving element is detected by a limit switch or a light receiving element on the crane gutter 2 side. Also,
On the crane gutter 2 side, there is a Z-axis head area sensor (13 in Figure 4).
) is provided, but this is a sensor that functions as a so-called constraint condition that the crane main body 1 or the crane gutter 2 does not move or traverse unless the hand 3 reaches the upper limit.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing how the sensor is attached to the hand 3. First, each corner of the hand 3 is provided with claws 13 for fixing the workpiece 21 being gripped. For example, light is irradiated into these claws 13 and the workpiece 21 is fixed from the reflected light.
A workpiece gripping confirmation sensor 14 is provided to confirm the gripping of the workpiece. Further, on the side of the hand 3, there is a type confirmation sensor 1 attached to the workpiece 21 side, which illuminates a bar code with light and reads the type of the workpiece 21 to be gripped from the reflected light.
Obstacle confirmation sensors 16 for detecting obstacles below are attached to the lower surface portions of both ends of the member 3a that protrudes a predetermined distance outward from the hand 3 frame. This obstacle confirmation sensor 6 has a function of ensuring safety on the X-axis and Y-axis travel roads.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the hand 3 is gripping the workpiece 21. Various methods can be considered for gripping the workpiece 21. For example, if the workpiece 21 has a square-shaped handle as shown in FIG. 3, the hand 3 may be inserted from the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The hand 3 is configured to contract the workpiece 21 when gripping the workpiece 21 and expand when set on the workpiece 21 to grip the workpiece 21, and furthermore, the handle portion of the workpiece 21 is configured to be extendable and retractable. Good too.

Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the entire apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 22 indicates an origin position measuring means with an origin correction function that measures the origin position of the crane and corrects the origin, and 23 transmits information necessary for operation control on the crane side in advance, and conversely, various information from the crane side. 24 is a crane operation control means that executes the crane operation based on a predetermined program, and 25 is a crane drive device with a digital servo mechanism that drives the crane in response to instructions from the crane operation control means 24. . In addition, the crane has X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axes that count up and down count values as the overhead traveling crane body 1 and crane gutter 2 travel to obtain current position data of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis. A counter is provided.

Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as above will be explained.

First, the crane operation control means 24 receives information necessary for crane operation control sent from the host computer 23 in advance, such as the x, y, and z axis position data of the teaching point 7.8 and x related to the crane operation permissible zone 5. ,y,
Receive z-axis position data, etc. and store it in memory.

In this state, the crane operation control means 24 executes the initialization process 1, for example 0, by executing the program operation.If it is necessary to perform origin correction, if the crane is at an appropriate position in the crane operation permissible zone 5 other than the origin position. Then, a command signal for traveling to the home position is sent to the crane drive device 25, and the crane is moved to the home position. At this time, the crane operation control means 24 detects when the crane reaches the origin position and the X-axis head area sensor 9. When it is determined that the origin position has been reached based on the output of the Y-axis tilt area sensor 10, a point position measurement command is sent to the origin position measurement means 22. Here, the origin position measuring means 22 reads count data of the Y-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis counters, that is, origin position data, and sends it to the crane operation control means 24.

Here, the crane operation control means 24 has a Y axis and a Y axis.

If the counts on the Z-axis counter are all zero, it is determined that there is no error in the crane drive system, and if there is a value on any of the Y-axis, Y-axis, or Z-axis counters, there is an error in the crane drive system. It is determined that there is, and a correction command is sent to the origin position measuring means 22. This origin position measuring means 22 performs origin correction by resetting all counters to zero. After receiving the origin position measurement command from the crane operation control means 24, the origin position measuring means 1 22 performs all the origin correction functions as described above.
After the origin correction is completed, a signal to that effect may be sent to the crane operation control means 24. Note that when the crane is set at the origin position, this means that the corner portion where the hand 3 is located is at the crane operation origin position 6, as shown in FIG.

After performing the initialization settings as described above, the crane operation control means 24 gives a command to the crane driving device 25 to drive the crane, and the upper computer 23
The teaching point 7 is moved to the teaching point 7 where the work 21 set by is located. The teaching point 7 is detected by the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis circumference counters sequentially counting the traveling position data of the Y-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis by driving the overhead traveling crane body 1 and the crane gutter 2. Therefore, the determination can be made when this count value and the set position data of the teaching point 7 by the host computer 23 match.

2 Once the crane is set at the teaching point 7 in this way, the crane operation control means 24 lowers the crane mast 4 to a predetermined position, and uses the hand 3 to lower the crane mast 4 to the third teaching point.
As shown in the figure, the workpiece 21 is gripped, and when a workpiece gripping confirmation signal is received from the four workpiece gripping confirmation sensors 4, it is determined that the workpiece 21 is gripped. Further, the plurality of type confirmation sensors 15 irradiate light onto, for example, a bar code attached to the inner surface of the handle of the workpiece 21, receive the reflected light, and send it directly to the crane operation control means 24. Therefore, the crane operation control means 24 determines whether or not the workpiece 21 is of the corresponding type based on the signals from the type confirmation sensor 15, and determines whether or not the workpiece 21 is of the corresponding type.
If it is 1, the crane mast 4 is raised to a predetermined position. Whether or not the crane mast 4 has risen to a predetermined position is determined based on the signal from the Z-axis tilt area sensor 13.

Next, the crane operation control means 24 outputs a command to move the workpiece 21 from the teaching point 7 to the teaching point 8 based on the program, and causes the crane to move. Since an obstacle confirmation sensor 16 is attached, the vehicle is driven while checking the presence or absence of an obstacle based on the signal from this sensor 16. As the crane travels, the Y-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis circumference counters count the travel positions of the Y-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis, so the crane operation control means 24 uses the position data of these counters and the host computer 23.
When they match, it is determined that the teaching point 8 has been reached, and the crane mast 4 is lowered to place the workpiece 21 at the teaching point 8.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the embodiments as described above, the present invention has the following features:
Using the area sensors 9, ~94, 10~12, it is possible to check whether the crane is traveling within the preset crane operation permissible area 5, and also to confirm that the hand 3 is holding the workpiece in a predetermined position. A sensor 14 for checking the workpiece type, a sensor 15 for checking the workpiece type, a sensor 16 for checking the obstacle, etc. are installed to check the signals from the four sensors mentioned above when grasping the workpiece 21 and when the crane is moving, and to check the current position of the crane when the crane is operating. The crane is driven while checking whether or not the workpiece 21 is within the allowable range zone 5.
It can prevent damage to crane equipment, work 2] falling, etc.
A very high level of safety can be ensured. Furthermore, even if the external situation suddenly changes, it can be quickly and appropriately operated in the direction of safety.

Incidentally, the crane operation permissible region zone 5 in the above embodiment can be set in any manner by suitably changing the mounting positions of the region sensors 91 to 94 and 10 to 12 for each axis. Furthermore, it is not necessary to measure the origin position every time, and it may be performed at relatively long intervals, for example, at the time of initial inspection every morning. This is because it is carried out to confirm that the movement of the crane does not exceed the crane operation permissible zone 5 due to deviations due to aging of the building.

Furthermore, although light reflection type sensors are used as the various confirmation sensors 14 to 16, various sensors such as a limit switch, a magnetic sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, an electromagnetic resonance sensor, etc. can be used. Further, it goes without saying that the hand 3 varies depending on the form of the work 21. In addition, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention provides an automatic operation control device for an overhead crane that can quickly and appropriately respond to sudden changes in external conditions and can operate the crane safely at all times. Can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 4 are shown to explain one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a planar layout diagram when an overhead traveling crane is applied, and Figure 2 is a diagram of the sensor in the hand. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of attachment, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the state of chucking a workpiece by the hand, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the apparatus of the present invention. 1... Overhead crane body, 2... Crane gutter, 3... Hand, 4... Crane mast, 5...
・Frane movement permissible range zone 6, 6... Crane movement origin position,
7.8...Teaching point □ point, 9~11.12+
~12. ．． 13...Area sensor,]4...Sensor for confirming workpiece grip, 15...Sensor for confirming workpiece type,
16... Obstacle confirmation sensor, 21... Work, 2
2... Origin position measuring means, 23... Host computer, 24... Crane operation control means, 25... Crane drive device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A workpiece is grasped by a hand at the lower end of a crane mast and transported to a predetermined location, which is suspended from a crane gutter that is slidably provided on an overhead traveling crane body that travels in a predetermined direction. In an automatic operation control device for an overhead running lane, an area sensor is provided on the main body of the overhead running lane and a necessary travel path, and an area sensor attached to a predetermined part of the hand has a positional relationship corresponding to a crane operation permissible area zone. Multiple types of safety confirmation sensors; an origin position measuring means that resets the position data of the counter to zero when the origin position is set in the crane operation permissible area; and when a workpiece located at a predetermined position within the crane operation permissible area is gripped by a hand. Crane operation control means that confirms safety from the output of the safety confirmation sensor and drives the crane while checking the outputs of the desired safety confirmation sensor, the area sensor, and the counter when the crane is traveling. An automatic operation control device for an overhead traveling crane, which is characterized by: