JP3280414B2 - Transfer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer device for transferring a pallet using a linear step motor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A transfer device for transferring a pallet using a linear step motor has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-49506. In this transport device, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of stators 2 'are installed along the transport line 1, and a movable element is provided on a pallet 6' traveling on the transport line 1, and the stator 2 ' Switch 1 for energizing the coil
By controlling the pallet 6 ′ by switching the pallet 6 , the pallet 6 ′ travels on the transport line 1. Further, in the case of this transport device, a plurality of detectors 8 'for detecting the position of the pallet 6' are provided on the transport line 1, and the detectors 8 '
The energization of the coil is controlled according to the output.

[0003]

However, in the case of the above-described transport device, a detector 8 'for detecting the position of the pallet 6' is used.
Is required for each coil, so that there is a problem that if the transport distance of the pallet 6 'is increased, the number of detectors 8' is considerably increased. Further, when the coil 8 is controlled to be energized while the position of the pallet 6 'is detected by the detector 8', it is difficult to transport a plurality of pallets 6 '. The reason is that a plurality of pallets 6 ′ need to be individually identified for controlling the energization of the coil, but it is difficult to identify the pallets 6 ′ individually in the case of the above-described transport device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to reduce the number of detecting means for detecting pallets, and furthermore, to provide a linear step capable of transporting a plurality of pallets. An object of the present invention is to provide a transport device using a motor.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a plurality of power supply circuits for individually supplying power to a plurality of coils, and a detecting means for detecting a pallet at a pallet loading portion of a transport line. Control means for outputting a pulse train signal indicating the transport of each pallet every time a pallet is detected by the detecting means, and a parallel output corresponding to one pulse of the pulse train signal is added to supply power to all power supply circuits A plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits for providing a switching signal.

In order to prevent interference when transporting a plurality of pallets, the control means may determine the positions of the pallets and control the transport of the plurality of pallets. Further, as another method of preventing interference during the transfer of a plurality of pallets, the control means may determine the drive time of the pallets and control the transfer of the plurality of pallets.

Further, when a plurality of stations are provided on the transfer line and the transfer of the pallets is controlled between the stations, more various transfer states can be realized.

[0008]

According to the present invention, by configuring as described above,
Once the pallet is carried into the transport line, the pallet can be transported under the control of the control means afterwards, eliminating the need to detect the position of the pallet on the transport line, reducing the number of detectors, Moreover every time the pallet is detected by the detection means, the control means outputs a pulse train signal indicating the transport pallets each, the parallel output in response to one pulse of the pulse train signal having a plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuit outputs By adding and supplying a power supply switching signal to all the power supply circuits, all the power supply circuits are collectively controlled by the added output of the plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits, and a plurality of pallets can be conveyed.

[0009]

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer device of the present embodiment includes a transfer line 1
A long stator 2 in which a plurality of convex portions 2a are formed in two rows is laid along the pallet 6, and a pallet 6 on which a mover 4 is fixed on the lower surface thereof is freely run on a linear guide 7 on the stator 2. It has a structure supported by.

A coil 3 is wound around each of the projections 2a of the stator 2, and magnetic pole teeth 2b are formed on the upper surface of the projections 2a. Further, the magnetic pole teeth 4a facing the magnetic pole teeth 2b of the stator 2 are formed on the mover 4. Here, the magnetic pole teeth 2b of the stator 2 and the magnetic pole teeth 4a of the mover 4 are formed at the same pitch, and the magnetic pole teeth 4 of the mover 4 are provided for each projection 2a of the stator 2.
The position a is sequentially shifted by a predetermined pitch.
Therefore, by sequentially energizing the coil 3 along the transport direction of the pallet 6, the coil 3 is moved to a position where the magnetic pole teeth 4a of the mover 4 coincide with the magnetic pole teeth 2b of each convex portion 2a, thereby performing step running. Can be.

In the present embodiment, a power supply circuit 9 for supplying power to the coils 6 is provided for each coil 3 as shown in FIG. the detection sensor 8 that detects that it has been provided, the controller 10 is collectively performed power supply control to the coils 3 by feeding circuit 9 in response to the detection output of the detection sensor 8. Between the controller 10 and the power supply circuit 9, a serial /
A parallel conversion circuit 11 is provided. Here, the output from the controller 10 is a pulse train signal expressing the traveling operation of the pallet 6 by the number of pulses and the frequency . Therefore, the serial / parallel conversion circuit 11 is provided with outputs corresponding to all the power supply circuits 9 so that each power supply circuit 9 controls the power supply of the coil 3 according to the pulse train signal.

The serial / parallel conversion circuit 11 includes:
As shown in FIG. 1, a counter 12 and a memory (ROM) 1
3 and the counter 12 controls the controller 10.
The number of pulses of each pulse of the pulse train signal given by
The next count is performed, and the memory 13 outputs a power supply switching signal to each power supply circuit 9 using the counted number as an address.
In the case of the present embodiment, in order to transport a plurality of pallets 6, a plurality of the serial / parallel conversion circuits 11 are provided,
For each pallet 6, the controller 10 supplies a pulse train signal to the corresponding serial / parallel conversion circuit 11. For example, when another pallet 6 is loaded while one pallet 6 is being transported, the controller 10 controls the transport of the previously transported pallet 6 according to the output of the detection sensor 8 at this time. Parallel conversion circuit 1
A pulse train signal for the pallet 6 loaded later is given to the serial / parallel conversion circuit 11 other than 1.

At this time, each power supply circuit 9 controls the power supply to the coil 3 and controls the transport of the pallet 6 based on the result of adding the outputs of the plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits 11.
For example, assuming that there are two pallets 6 and ten power supply circuits 9, the result of addition is as shown in the following table.

[0014]

[Table 1]

In this manner, the plurality of pallets 6 can be driven independently on the transport line 1. When the plurality of pallets 6 are independently driven as described above, there is a problem that the pallets 6 interfere with each other. Therefore,
To prevent this, the position of the preceding pallet 6 is determined from the number of pulses output by the controller 10 so far, and as shown by the arrow in FIG. When the pallet 6 is conveyed, the conveyance of the subsequent pallet 6 may be started. Here, the position of the pallet 6 may be detected by a position detection sensor provided at a predetermined position. Further, as another method, the driving time of the previous pallet 6 is monitored, and the driving of the next pallet 6 is started when a certain time has elapsed as shown by an arrow in FIG. Is also good. In addition, as shown in FIG.
And each pallet 6 to be conveyed is set at each station A,
B, it is possible to stop at an individual position and time, and as shown in FIG.
The moving time of the pallets 6 between them may be changeable for each pallet 6. In this way, the plurality of pallets 6 can be independently driven by the plurality of stations A and B including the loading section.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, a stator is arranged along a transport line, and a pallet integrally provided with a mover is supported on the stator so as to be freely movable in the transport direction. In a transfer device using a linear step motor having a plurality of coils that sequentially excite teeth in accordance with a traveling direction of a pallet, a plurality of power supply circuits that individually supply power to the plurality of coils, and a pallet of a transfer line. Detecting means for detecting a pallet in the carry-in section, control means for outputting a pulse train signal indicating the conveyance of each pallet each time a pallet is detected by the detecting means, and parallel output corresponding to one pulse of the pulse train signal And a plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits for supplying a power supply switching signal to all the power supply circuits. Can carry pallets under the control of the unit, as required to detect the position of the pallet on the conveyor line, it can reduce the number of detectors. Further, each time the pallet detection means is detected, the control means outputs a pulse train signal indicating the transport pallets each parallel output of a plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuit according to one pulse of the pulse train signal to be output Is added to provide a power supply switching signal to all power supply circuits, so that all power supply circuits can be controlled collectively by the added output of a plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits.
Multiple pallets can be transported.

Further, if the control means determines the position of the pallets and controls the transfer of a plurality of pallets, it is possible to prevent interference during the transfer of the plurality of pallets. Further, by controlling the driving time of the pallets and controlling the transfer of the plurality of pallets, it is possible to prevent interference during the transfer of the plurality of pallets. Furthermore, when a plurality of stations are provided on the transfer line and the transfer of the pallets is controlled for each station, a variety of transfer states can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific configuration of a main part of one embodiment of the present invention and an output waveform of a controller.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a transport device.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a longitudinal sectional view and a transverse sectional view showing a structure of a linear step motor section of the transfer device.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of a method for preventing interference between pallets, respectively.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a transfer device provided with a station.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of the above.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance line 2 Stator 3 Coil 4 Mover 6 Pallet 8 Detection sensor 9 Power supply circuit 10 Controller 11 Serial / parallel conversion circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60L 13/03-13/10 H02K 5/00 H02K 7/00 B65G 54/00-54/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stator is arranged along a transport line, a pallet integrally including a mover is supported on the stator so as to be able to travel in the transport direction, and the magnetic pole teeth of the stator correspond to the travel direction of the pallet. And a plurality of power supply circuits for individually supplying power to the plurality of coils, and a detection device for detecting a pallet in a pallet loading section of the transfer line. Means, a control means for outputting a pulse train signal indicating the transport of each pallet each time a pallet is detected by the detecting means, and a parallel output corresponding to one pulse of the pulse train signal is added to all power supply circuits. A transport device comprising: a plurality of serial / parallel conversion circuits for supplying a power supply switching signal. 2. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means determines the position of the pallets and controls the transfer of a plurality of pallets. 3. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means determines the drive time of the pallets and controls the transfer of a plurality of pallets. 4. The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of stations are provided on the transport line, and the transport of the pallets is controlled for each station.