CZ20002671A3 - Method and control system for controlling conveyor belt system and plant for packaging paper pulp - Google Patents

Abstract

In a method of controlling a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is associated with a control unit (44, 46, 48), the conveyors are controlled in accordance with status data from conveyors. Each conveyor is listed to the communication processor (50, 52, 53) and a bus (54) only with its adjacent conveyors, which they are further linked only to their adjacent ones conveyors, etc. Communication includes control units (44.46, 48) of each conveyor, transmitting and receiving control information. The information provided is based on custom conveyor data and control information from its adjacent conveyors. Control signals for control conveyors are created based on their own state of the art conveyor data and control information received by the control conveyor unit (44, 46, 48) from the control units (44, 46,48) of adjacent conveyors. Controllers (44, 46, 48) are normalized and dimensioned for maximum number adjacent conveyors. The pulp packaging plant is equipped with a control system equipped with a control system.

Description

Method and control system for conveyor system control and pulp packing plant

Technical field

The invention relates to a method of controlling a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is dependent on its control on the condition of at least a plurality of other conveyors in said plurality, each conveyor being controlled in accordance with its own status data and status data from the conveyors. which the respective conveyor is dependent on.

The invention further relates to a control system for such a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is associated with a control unit connected to sensing means for supplying status data, each control unit configured to control an associated conveyor and configured to form the control signals depending on the conveyor status data and the status data of several other conveyors of the plurality of conveyors on which the respective conveyor is dependent. On the basis of said status data and based on the status data of the other conveyors, the control unit then issues control signals for conveyor control.

The invention also relates to a papermaking plant equipped with said conveyor system.

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The conveyor sensing means may consist of mechanical limit sensors or inductive transducers. The status data obtained from the conveyor sensing means provide combined information regarding the condition of the conveyor, i.e., whether the conveyor is free or carrying a load (e.g., a bale), as well as location information of the conveyor.

In this context, the term "conveyor" also refers to a machine in a conveyor system that is not directly a true conveyor. In terms of communication, all such machines must function as conveyors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conveyor devices in a paper wrapping line, for example for the production of boards, are rarely the same on a case-by-case basis. This is mainly because the spaces in which the conveyor equipment is to be installed are rarely similar, but also because the shape of the load (parcel) and the required capacity of the conveyor system vary from one site to another.

Each facility is designed in a specific way, requiring demanding engineering work before delivery. Typically, about half of this engineering work is dedicated to conveyors and about half to other machinery at the facility.

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The control systems of modern conveyor systems of the type in question are also designed such that the control unit for each conveyor is arranged in a main computer which is common to the entire conveyor system. The master computer thus comprises a control unit for each conveyor, wherein each control unit is in fact a program module.

Each conveyor communicates via its control unit with all other conveyors on which the respective conveyor may be dependent. The control unit receives the status data from the conveyors on which it is dependent. The conveyor is dependent on conveyors whose condition is influenced by how the conveyor is controlled.

Purely theoretically, the conveyor may be dependent on an infinite number of other conveyors. In practice, however, the conveyor is usually dependent on a maximum of about fifteen other conveyors so that its control unit receives status data from fifteen other conveyors. Based on these status data, the control unit generates control signals for the purpose of controlling the conveyor belonging to the control unit.

Since each conveyor in a conveyor system has its own set of conveyors on which it is dependent, and since two conveyor systems are hardly similar, it is necessary to create extremely complex solutions for a particular customer for each conveyor system. Therefore, in principle, a single control unit must be used for each conveyor.

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If, for some reason, the plant has to be changed, for example by removing the conveyor, or if it has a somewhat changed function, then the control unit of that conveyor and the control units of all conveyors dependent on the conveyor must be reprogrammed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned problems, and in particular to significantly reduce the scope of engineering work and, consequently, the costs involved.

This object has been achieved by developing a method of controlling a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is dependent upon its control on the condition of at least a plurality of other conveyors in said plurality, each conveyor being controlled in accordance with its own status data and conveyor status data. to which the respective conveyor is dependent, each conveyor being connected only to adjacent conveyors, which in turn are connected only to their adjacent conveyors, etc., wherein the communication comprises transmitted and received control information of each conveyor, wherein the control information of each conveyor conveyor are created on the basis of own conveyor status data and status data from other conveyors on which the respective conveyor is dependent, the status data from said other conveyors are fed through m repeat to the respective conveyor in the form of control information from adjacent conveyors.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a control system for a conveyor system has also been developed, a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors. each associated with a control unit coupled to sensing means for supplying status data, each control unit being configured to control an associated conveyor and configured to generate control signals depending on the conveyor status data itself and the status data from the conveyor. a plurality of other conveyors of said plurality of conveyors upon which the respective conveyor is dependent, the control unit of each conveyor being arranged to communicate only with the control units of adjacent conveyors, which units are further arranged to communicate only with the control units their adjacent conveyors, etc., wherein the communication comprises broadcast and control information of the control unit of each control information being generated based on its own conveyor status data and status data from those other conveyors upon which the respective conveyor is dependent; delivered via repetition to the control unit of the respective conveyor in the form of control information from adjacent conveyors.

Each control unit is preferably designed as a standard unit, dimensioned for communication with control units belonging to the maximum number of adjacent conveyors.

The control unit of each conveyor can be arranged on the conveyor and can be connected by cables to the control units of adjacent conveyors.

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Preferably, each control unit may be arranged to communicate with adjacent conveyor control units by means of a communication processor arranged in each control unit via the field bus.

Conveyor control units are preferably designed as program modules in a common master computer.

The control units in the main computer are preferably connected to the respective conveyors by means of a communication processor arranged in the main computer, via an array bus and a communication processor arranged on each conveyor.

In the present invention, recurrence is utilized, that is, each conveyor communicates only with the conveyor or directly adjacent conveyors, which further communicate with their adjacent conveyors, and so on. An adjoining conveyor shall be deemed to be the conveyor to or from which the freight is taken over by the conveyor concerned,

The communication comprises a control unit of each conveyor receiving or transmitting control information from or to the control unit of each of the adjacent conveyors. The control information of each conveyor is generated based on its own conveyor status data and the control information of its adjacent conveyors. Thus, each conveyor does not have direct information regarding the status of its adjacent conveyors, but instead has control information generated based on status data from several conveyors. The conveyor chain is • ♦ ♦ ·

In this way, the status data is returned in the form of control information.

The control signals are generated for the purpose of controlling the conveyor in question based on the conveyor status data itself and the control information the conveyor control unit has.

The conveyor control units can thus be standardized. The range of control information between adjacent conveyors is always the same, regardless of the type of conveyor used. From a communication point of view, the rotating and shifting operations are equivalent, and the stationary conveyor is considered to be a single-position conveyor. Therefore, only one program is required to move loads between conveyors.

All conveyor systems will be the same in terms of programming, with subsequent changes to existing plants being as simple as building new ones. When extending or changing an existing facility, it is only necessary to specify new adjacent conveyors. From a communication point of view, a stationary conveyor can be easily replaced by a movable conveyor by entering information about new adjacent conveyors.

By using the present invention, considerable savings can be achieved since the conveyor control units are designed as complete standardized units. Engineering work, such as programming before the delivery of a new conveyor system, as well as engineering work on the installation of conveyors will usually be reduced to one-tenth of the previously required range.

Said labor savings are applied both in the conversion of an existing conveyor system in accordance with the present invention and in the construction of new facilities. Even existing plants with different types of control systems can be converted to control systems according to the present invention.

The control unit according to the invention is sized for communication with control units belonging to the maximum number of adjacent conveyors. This means that the control unit is dimensioned for "the worst case, which in the case of a conveyor system for a paper wrapping line consists of a movable conveyor with five different positions, each position having two adjacent conveyors.

The same standardized unit is used even in the simplest case where it is a straight conveyor with one adjacent conveyor, but in this case its capacity is only partially used.

In the control system according to the invention, for example, the conveyor control unit may be connected directly to the control units of its adjacent conveyors, or it may be arranged to communicate with the controllers of adjacent conveyors via a field bus. The cable length is minimized if fieldbus is used for communication between conveyors.

Physical inputs and outputs are arranged on each conveyor and are used to communicate with motors, signaling equipment, and signaling equipment. , sensing means and the like. The inputs generate status data for the control unit and the outputs transmit control signals supplied from the control unit. The input and output can also be normalized.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the control system of the present invention, each conveyor comprises a control unit, a fieldbus communication processor, and physical inputs and outputs.

According to another embodiment of the control system according to the invention, the control units are implemented as program modules in the main computer, wherein communication with the conveyors is performed by a communication processor in the main computer. In this case, the host computer includes a program module for each conveyor. This program module then creates a control unit for the conveyor in question.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a part of a conveyor system for packing paper pulp; and Figures 2 to 4 show the basic construction of three different embodiments of a control system for the conveyor system shown in Figure 1.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a paper-wrapping machine with a cutting machine 2 located to the left of FIG. 1, the rotary conveyors 7 ^and 9 are shown in a holding position for receiving bale from the cutting machine 2. The bale is transported from the conveyor 6 to the conveyor 6 and then to the conveyors 8 and 10.

The framed portion 11 downstream of the conveyor 10 includes a rail scales, a baler and then another conveyor for transporting the bale to the next wrapping machine 13. This wrapping machine 13 packs the bale into a wrapping sheet fed through the conveyors 15, 20 and 22 as described in more detail in others.

The wrapping machine 13 is followed by a first tying machine 17 in which the bale is wrapped with a wire 19. Downstream of the first tying machine 17 are a marking machine 21 and a folding machine 12 with a rotary table for lifting and rotating the bale to fold the wrapping sheet at the corners. the package is fed to the second tying machine 23 to complete the wrapping by wrapping with a wire 25 guided from a different direction than the wire in the first tying machine 17.

Obviously, further conveyors are provided for the successive transport of the bales between the above-mentioned packaging machines.

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Said wrapping operations, subsequent wire stitching operations, and other package handling will not be described in detail herein.

Each conveyor is associated with a control unit containing physical inputs and outputs as well as sensing means. The status data from the sensing means is, inter alia, supplied to the control unit via physical inputs, wherein the control signals are inter alia supplied from the control unit to the conveyor via the outputs.

The conveyor control unit is arranged in a manner that will be described in more detail below for the purpose of interconnection with the control units of adjacent conveyors. Each control unit outputs control information that is generated based on its own conveyor status data as well as control information from neighboring conveyors. The control information of neighboring conveyors thus collects control information which, together with its own status data, is used to generate control signals for the purpose of controlling the conveyor of the control unit itself.

Thus, the conveyor 6 obtains control information from the conveyors 4, 8, 14 and 15, the conveyor 8 acquires control information from the conveyor 10 as well as from the conveyor 6, etc.

The sequence may be as follows if the starting position is a bale on the conveyor 6, which bale is to be transported further. If the conveyor control unit 6 receives control information from the conveyor control unit 8 that the conveyor 8 is unable to receive the package ftft, the package will be transported to the conveyor 14 if the control information of the unit indicates that there is room for temporarily storing the package on the conveyor 14, 16 or 18.

conveyor 6 from its control

Suppose the conveyors 14 and 16 are occupied, but the conveyor 18 is free. The status data from the conveyor 14 then indicates that the conveyor 14 is occupied. The conveyor control unit 14 asks the conveyor control unit 16 whether there is space. The status data of the conveyor 16 indicates that the conveyor 16 is occupied. The conveyor control unit 16 asks the conveyor control unit 18 whether there is space. The status data of the conveyor 18 indicates that it is free. The conveyor controller 18 responds to control information of the conveyor controller 16 that the conveyor 18 is free. The conveyor control unit 16 responds to the control information of the conveyor control unit 14 that there is room. The conveyor control unit 14 responds to the control information of the conveyor control unit 6 that there is space. Once there is space on the conveyors 8 and 10 for transporting the parcels for subsequent packaging and for further handling, and the conveyor 4 and the rotary conveyor 7 are empty, the bales return from temporary storage on the conveyors 14, 16 and 18 to the conveyor 6, and so on.

The packaging line usually works much faster than the cutting machine, so temporary storage is only necessary in case of malfunctions in the packaging line operation.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has twin packing lines, the bottom line in the figure being identical to the line described at the top of the figure.

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The packaging material is fed between the conveyors 15, 20, 22 and 24. The material is common to both packaging lines.

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Supply lines packaging

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a control system according to the present invention having a plurality of control units 26, 28 and 30, each of which is arranged on a conveyor. Each control unit 26, 28 and 30 is directly connected to the control unit of adjacent adjacent conveyors via physical inputs and outputs 32, 33 and 34 and cables 36 and 38.

The sensing means 27, 29 and 31 are connected to the inputs for sensing the condition of the conveyor and supply the status data to the respective control unit 26, 28 and 30.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which each of the control units 44, 46 and 48 is arranged on a conveyor, all of which are connected to each other via a communication processor 50, 52 and 53 arranged on each conveyor via a field bus 54 .

FIG. 4 shows another alternative embodiment in which the control units 70, 72 and 74 are arranged in the main computer 66, each conveyor being assigned its own control unit 70, 72 and 74. Status data from each conveyor is transmitted via the communication processor 60, 62 and 64 via the field bus 56 and via the communication processor 58 ft ft. Ftft. Ftft. Ftftftft ft ftft ··· In the main computer 66 to the respective control units 70, 72 and 74.The control signals are transmitted from the main computer 66 via the communication processor 58 via the field bus 56, and further via communication processors 60, 62, 64 to conveyors. In this embodiment, the control information is transmitted directly between the control units 70, 72 and 74 in the host computer 66.

In this embodiment, a recurrence is also applied to the main computer 66, i.e., the control unit of each conveyor is connected only to the control units of adjacent adjacent conveyors.

The embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4 also include inputs, outputs, and sensing means as described with reference to Figure 2.

In the control system of the present invention, the control information is transmitted cyclically between the control units. Thus, the control units always have all the required information, and the above sequences or sequences describing how the information is transmitted are thus performed immediately.

Conveyor systems for packaging lines of the type described above typically include the following types of conveyor:

stationary rotary movable • three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three · three rotary table tilting stationary corner loader mobile corner loader.

Examples of signals that are transmitted for conveyor system control purposes are:

bale on conveyor, position 1 of conveyor, position 2 of conveyor, position 3 of conveyor, etc., position 1 of bale, position 2 of bale, position 3 of bale, etc., front position 1 for receiving bale, front position 2 for receiving bale, front position 3 for receiving bale, etc., rear position 1 for receiving bale, rear position 2 for receiving bale, rear position 3 for receiving bale, etc., forward position 1 for bale delivery, forward position 2 for bale delivery, forward position 3 for parcel delivery, etc., rear position 1 for parcel delivery, rear position 2 for parcel delivery, rear position 3 for parcel delivery, etc., and forward conveyor, reverse conveyor, chain forward, chain reverse, etc.

Claims (9)

A method of controlling a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is dependent on its control on the condition of at least a plurality of other conveyors in said plurality, each conveyor being controlled in accordance with its own status data and status data from the conveyors on which the respective conveyor is dependent, characterized in that each conveyor is connected only to adjacent conveyors, which are further connected only to their adjacent conveyors, etc., wherein the communication comprises transmitted and received control information of each conveyor, wherein the control information Each conveyor is created on the basis of its own conveyor status data and state data from other conveyors on which the respective conveyor is dependent, the state data from said other conveyors are fed to the conveyor decent conveyor in the form of control information from adjacent conveyors. A control system for a conveyor system comprising a plurality of conveyors, each of which is associated with a control unit connected to sensing means for supplying status data, each control unit being arranged to control an associated conveyor, and arranged to generate control signals in depending on the conveyor status data itself and on the status data of several other conveyors of said plurality of conveyors on which the respective conveyor is dependent, characterized in that the control unit of each conveyor is arranged to communicate only with the control units of adjacent conveyors; 9 9 * Φ • Φ · · <·· <· Φ · · 4 ΦΦΦ · ΦΦΦΦ φ φ 99 ΦΦ II Φ 9 9 9 9 The units are further arranged to communicate only with the control units of their adjacent conveyors, etc., wherein the communication comprises transmitted and received control information of the control unit of each conveyor, which control information is generated based on its own conveyor status data and For those other conveyors upon which the respective conveyor is dependent, the status data from said other conveyors is supplied by repeating to the control unit of the respective conveyor in the form of control information from adjacent conveyors. Control system according to claim 2, characterized in that each control unit is designed as a standard unit dimensioned for communication with control units belonging to the maximum number of adjacent conveyors. Control system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the control unit of each conveyor is arranged on the conveyor. Control system according to any one of claims 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the control unit of each conveyor is connected by cables to the control units of adjacent conveyors. Control system according to any one of claims 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that each control unit is arranged to communicate with adjacent conveyor control units by means of a communication processor arranged in each control unit via an field bus. in every φφ · · »·» φ »φ *« • φ • • φ • φ φ φ φ φ φ φ φ ΦΦ ΦΦ ΦΦ ΦΦ ΦΦ ΦΦ Control system according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the conveyor control units are designed as program modules in a common master computer. Control system according to claim 7, characterized in that the control units in the main computer are connected to the respective conveyors by means of a communication processor arranged in the main computer, by means of a field bus and a communication processor arranged on each conveyor. A pulp packaging plant, characterized in that it is equipped with a conveyor system with a control system according to any of the preceding claims.