JPS61132004A - Levitating conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the magnetic attraction force at the seam of guide rails from decreasing by connecting a plurality of split rails for forming a guide rail by joint fittings of ferromagnetic material. CONSTITUTION:A carriage 2 is movably disposed along a guide rail 1 on the rail 1. A magnetic supporting unit 3 is placed on the lower portion of the carriage 2. The rail 1 has a plurality of L-shaped sectional split rails 11 of ferromagnetic material, a supporting member 12 for supporting the rails 11 for connecting in series the rails 11, and a bolt 13 for clamping the member 12 to the rails 11. The member 12 is formed of a ferromagnetic material at the portion 14 at least contacted with the rails 11. Thus, magnetic attraction force does not varies in the seam of the guide rails.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a floating conveyance device for conveying small articles.
In particular, the present invention relates to a levitation type conveyance device capable of stably controlling a magnetic levitation system.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems] In recent years, as part of office automation and factory automation, it has become common practice to move slips, documents, cash, materials, etc. between multiple points within a building using a conveyance device. It is being said.

Conveying devices used for such purposes must not harm the office environment, and must not generate dust or the like and have low noise. For this reason, this type of transport device is configured to be able to support the transport vehicle in a non-contact manner with respect to the guide rail. To support a guided vehicle without contact, it is common to use air or magnetism, but methods that support the guided vehicle magnetically have excellent followability to guide rails and noise reduction effects. This is considered the most promising support method.

Among such floating conveyance devices using a magnetic support method, the present applicant has previously proposed one using a permanent magnet as a magnetic support unit.

According to this device, most of the magnetomotive force required to levitate the transport vehicle can be obtained from the magnetomotive force of the permanent magnet, so the excitation laN current of the electromagnet can be reduced, making it possible to save energy. becomes.

By the way, in a normal office environment, there are many obstacles, so the configuration of the conveyance path is often complicated. Considering this point, it is desirable that the guide rail has a split structure. If the guide rail has a divided structure in this way, the installation work can be simplified.

However, when the guide rail has a split structure, the magnetic resistance of the magnetic circuit formed by the magnetic support unit, the air gap, and the guide rail increases at the joint, and the magnetic attraction between the magnetic support unit and the guide rail decreases. Resulting in.

For this reason, it is necessary to temporarily increase the magnetic attraction force at the joint by increasing the excitation current of the electromagnet by 11%f, but even if such measures are taken, the transport vehicle will not vibrate or the excitation If too much current is passed than necessary, problems such as the magnetic support unit and the guide rail being attracted to each other may occur. If such a problem occurs, it not only impairs the stability of the magnetic support control system but also wastes power.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to constantly stabilize and save the magnetic levitation system without impairing the ease of installing the guide rail.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a floating conveyance device that can generate energy.

(Summary of the Invention) The present invention has a guide rail made of a ferromagnetic material having a divided structure, and a transport vehicle is magnetically levitated and travels on the guide rail by a magnetic support unit, and the magnetic levitation system is stabilized. The floating conveyance device is characterized in that a plurality of rail segments constituting the guide rail are connected by a ferromagnetic joint fitting.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the rail division bodies are mechanically and magnetically connected by the joint fittings made of ferromagnetic material, even when the conveyance vehicle passes through the joint part of the guide rail, the magnetic support unit, the air gap and The magnetic resistance of the magnetic circuit made up of the guide rails does not vary significantly. Therefore, the magnetic attraction force between the magnetic support unit and the guide rail does not fluctuate at the joint portion of the guide rail. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to stabilize the magnetic levitation system, and since the excitation current does not flow more than necessary, it can also contribute to energy saving. Of course, since the guide rail has a divided structure, installation performance will not be impaired.

[Embodiments of the invention]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A floating conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper part is a guide rail installed in an office space to avoid obstacles, for example. A transport vehicle is disposed above the guide rail so as to be able to run freely along the guide rail 1. A magnetic support device 1 is mounted on the lower part of the transport vehicle. Furthermore, stators 6 of the linear induction motor i are arranged at predetermined intervals on the base portion 4 along the guide rail.

On the guide rail, there are a plurality of rail segments 11 made of ferromagnetic material and having an L-shaped longitudinal section, and a support member 12 that connects these rail segments 11 in series and supports these rail segments 11 on the base 4. , and a bolt 13 that fixes this support member 12 and the rail division body 11. The support member 12 at least supports the rail division body 11
A portion 14 in contact with is made of a ferromagnetic material, and this portion 14 is used as a joint fitting.

The conveyor 112- includes a flat base 15, a flat container 1B placed on the base 15 to facilitate the conveyance of objects such as documents, and a container 1B placed on the base 15 at the four corners of the lower surface of the base 15. It is comprised of four wheels 17 that are attached and support the base 15 in an emergency or the like.

The magnetic support device also includes a support plate 21 that faces the lower surface of the base 15 via a guide rail, and a
a connecting plate 22 arranged at right angles to the support plate 21 and connecting the base 15 and the support plate 21; and four magnetic support units fixed at the four corners of the support plate 21 so as to face the lower surface of the guide rail. 23, a gap sensor 24 which is fixed to each of the magnetic support units and detects the gap length between the magnetic support unit and the guide rail, and a control device 25 mounted at the center of the support plate 21. The second source 26 is fixed to the lower surface of the base 15.

The magnetic support unit η, as shown in FIG.
It consists of two electromagnets 35, 36 consisting of excitation coils 33, 34 wound around the yoke 31, 32, and a permanent magnet 37 interposed between the lower side surfaces of the yoke 31, 32, as a whole.
It has a letter shape. The excitation coils 33, 34 are connected in series in such an orientation that the magnetic fluxes produced by the electromagnets 35, 36 add to each other.

The gap sensor 24 is fixed to the magnetic support unit via a support member 38. This gap sensor 24
For example, a reflective photocoupler is used, in which light emitted from a light-emitting element (not shown) toward the upper and lower surfaces of the guide rail and reflected on the same surface is detected by a light-receiving element (not shown), and the intensity of the reflected light is determined. Therefore, the gap length is detected.

Also, control equipment! 25 is a fixed resistor which is an exciting current detection means connected in series with the exciting coils 33 and 34, for example;
A modulator that sends a light emission signal to the gap sensor 24 and changes the light reception signal from the gap sensor 24, and an excitation coil 33, 34 based on the signal from this modulator and the signal due to the voltage drop of the fixed resistor. It is comprised of an arithmetic circuit that calculates the value of the current flowing through the arithmetic circuit, an amplifier that supplies power to the excitation coils 33 and 34 based on a signal from this arithmetic circuit, and the like.

In addition, the support plate 21 that supports these magnetic support unit techniques
The stator 6 also serves as a conductor plate, which is a movable element of the linear induction motor, and when the device is in operation, the stator 6
and are placed at opposite heights with a slight gap between them.

Next, the operation of the floating conveyance device according to this embodiment configured as described above will be explained.

When the device is in a stopped state, the wheels 17 are in contact with the guide rail 1, or the magnetic support unit is attracted to the guide rail 1 by the magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet 37. When the device is started in this state, the control device 25 causes the N magnets 35 and 36 to generate magnetic flux in the same direction or in the opposite direction to the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet 37, and also causes the magnetic support unit 23 and the guide rail 1 to The current flowing through the excitation coils 33 and 34 is controlled in order to maintain a predetermined length of air gap P between the excitation coils 33 and 34. As a result, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3(a), a magnetic circuit consisting of a path from the permanent magnet 37 to the yoke 31 to the air IP to the rail segment 11 to the air gap P to the yoke 32 to the permanent magnet 31 is created. is formed. The gap length is set to a length such that the weight of the supported object such as the transport vehicle 2- and the magnetic attraction force between the magnetic support unit 23 and the guide rail L due to the magnetomotive force of the permanent magnet 31 are exactly balanced. Ru. Zero power control is achieved by maintaining this gap length.

Now, transport vehicle 2- is linear induction electric f! 11 stator 6
If the stator 6 is energized, the support plate 2
1 receives electromagnetic force from the stator 6, so the transport vehicle, ? - starts traveling along the guide rail while remaining in a magnetically levitated state. Transport vehicle? - If the stator 6 is placed again before it comes to a complete standstill due to air resistance, etc., then the carrier i
is energized again to continue moving along the guide rail. This movement continues until the destination point. Thus, the transport vehicle? - can be moved to the destination point without contact.

By the way, the transport vehicle? 1. When - passes through the P joint on the guide rail during the movement process. As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3 (1)), the permanent magnet 37 - the yoke 31 - the gap P - the rail segment 11 - the part 14 that will become the joint fitting - the rail segment 1
A magnetic circuit consisting of a path from 1 to gap P to yoke 32 to permanent magnet 37 is formed. In other words, in this case, even if there is some air gap in the connecting part of the rail divided body 11, the magnetic flux will be bypassed in the part 14 that becomes the joint fitting, and the magnetic resistance of the joint part will be This can prevent the magnetic resistance from increasing significantly compared to the magnetic resistance. For this reason,
It is possible to prevent the magnetic attraction force between the magnetic support unit and the guide rail from decreasing at the joint portion.

In this way, according to this embodiment, since the guide rail has a j-divided structure, it is easy to install the guide rail in an office space, and the magnetic attraction force at the joint on the guide rail is reduced. This effectively prevents the transport vehicle from moving at the joint, and the electromagnet 35.
36 is not biased more than necessary. Therefore, it is possible to stabilize the magnetic levitation system and contribute to energy saving. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the portion 14 serving as the joint fitting is integrally formed with the support member 13, which can also contribute to reducing the cost of the device.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, in the above embodiment, the support member 12 on the guide rail
Although the portion 14 serving as a joint fitting is integrally formed, a combination of separately formed joint fittings and a supporting member may be used. Further, the rail division body and the joint fitting may be connected by adhesion, welding, or the like. Further, the present invention is not limited to an apparatus using an optical reflective photocoupler as a gap sensor, but is also applicable to an apparatus using other optical or magnetic gap sensors. Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the number of magnetic support units, electromagnets, and permanent magnets, or how they are constructed.

As described above, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a floating conveyor device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the device, and FIG.
Figures a) and (b) are cross-sectional views showing the magnetic support unit and its surroundings in the same device. 1-...Guide rail, -2-...Transportation vehicle, 3-...
・Magnetic support device, 4...Base 1, 5-...Linear induction motor, 6...Stator, 11...Rail division body, 12...Support member, 14...Joint fittings 15... Base, 16... Container, 1γ... Wheel,
21... Support plate, 22... Connection plate, ■... Magnetic support unit, 24... Gap sensor, 25... Control device, 26... Power supply, 31.32... Yoke , 33
．． 34... Excitation coil, 35° 36... Electromagnet, 3
7...Permanent magnet, P...Air gap.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A guide rail formed by connecting a plurality of rail segments made of ferromagnetic material in series, a carrier disposed so as to be able to travel freely along this guide rail, and a guide rail formed by connecting a plurality of rail segments made of ferromagnetic material in series, a conveyance vehicle disposed so as to be able to travel freely along the guide rail, and a guide rail that is connected to the lower surface of the guide rail through a gap. electromagnets arranged to face each other,
and a plurality of permanent magnets mounted on the conveyance vehicle, which are comprised of permanent magnets that are interposed in a magnetic circuit constituted by the electromagnet, the guide rail, and the air gap and supply the magnetomotive force necessary to levitate the conveyance vehicle. In a floating conveyance device comprising a support unit and a control means for controlling an excitation current to the electromagnet to stabilize the magnetic circuit, a ferromagnetic joint fitting for connecting the plurality of rail segments in series is provided. What is claimed is: 1. A floating conveyance device comprising: (2) The floating conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the joint fitting is integrally formed with an element that supports the guide rail.