JPH04191207A - Signal transmission method of travelling crane in automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce signal cables by delivering signals of various kinds of sensors to the signal cables after converting them to serial signals by a carriage and taking them out as a detected signals for each of the sensors. CONSTITUTION:When a travel crane moves along a shelf and a carriage 3 lifts up and down, sensors 61-6n detect the shelf and others and send their information to a parallel/serial converter 8 as a signal. This converter 8 converts signals from a plural number of the sensors 61-6n to serial signals for each signal transmission cycle and transmits them to a serial/parallel converter 10 of a controller 5 by a signal cable 7. Then the signals are converted to a parallel signals and output as a detected signals of each of the sensors 61-6n through a gate circuit 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a signal transmission system between a control device and an elevating carriage provided in a lane running in an automated warehouse.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, automated warehouses are provided with lanes through which loads can be transferred to and from the shelves while moving along the shelves installed in the warehouse.

The traveling lane is equipped with two masts, and between these masts is provided an elevating carriage that can be raised and lowered, and a transfer device for transferring loads is provided on this elevating carriage.

In addition, the above-mentioned lifting carriage is equipped with various sensors such as sensors for detecting shelves, and the signals detected by these sensors are sent to the control installed at the bottom of the mast via signal cables installed for each sensor. The control device controls the movement of the lifting carriage based on these signals.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional running lane, a signal cable is provided for each of the various sensors provided on the elevating carriage, so a multi-core electric cable is required to transmit the signal to the control device.

Further, this electric cable needs to have a length corresponding to the lift stroke of the lifting carriage so that signals can be transmitted even when the lifting carriage moves up and down.

For this reason, a multicore, heavy electric cable must be wired between the control device and the lifting carriage, which requires a lot of man-hours for wiring, and the lifting carriage lifts and lowers while bearing the load of the heavy electric cable. Therefore, there were problems such as requiring a lifting drive source with a larger capacity than necessary, which was uneconomical.

This invention was made with the aim of improving this problem, and is a signal transmission system for automatic warehouse lanes that enables signal transmission with fewer signal cables by serially transmitting signals detected by various sensors. This is what we are trying to provide.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a system for moving up and down along the mast of the running lane, which moves along shelves installed in an automated warehouse. In the automatic warehouse running lane, the signals detected by the various sensors installed on the elevator carriage of the bracket are transmitted to the control device installed on the mast side by signal cables. The signal is converted into a serial signal and sent to the signal cable, and the control device converts the serial signal into a parallel signal and outputs it for each sensor.

This makes it possible to transmit signals from various sensors using a small number of signal cables, so that wiring between the control device and the lifting carriage can be done using electrical cables with a small number of cores.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows running lanes provided in an automated warehouse (not shown). In the figure, 1 is the running lane, 2 is the two masts that make up the running lane 1, and 3 is the mast 2.
A lifting carriage 3 is supported to be able to move up and down between the two, and a transfer device 4 for transferring a load is provided on the lifting carriage 3.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a control device attached to the lower part of the mast 2, and is connected to various sensors 6 provided on the elevating carriage 3 by one or more signal cables 7.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sensors 61, 62, . . . , 6n are installed in the lifting carriage 3, and the signals detected by these sensors 61, . As shown in Figure 3, the signal is converted into a serial signal every fixed signal transmission period and sent to the signal cable 7.
transmitted to.

The signal cable 7 is formed of a single wire or a plurality of wires as necessary, and transmits serial signals to the mast 2.
The information is transmitted to a control device 5 installed on the side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 5 has a parallel/serial converter 10 that converts the serial signal input through the signal cable 7 into a parallel signal. The converted signals are sent to a gate circuit 11 that opens and closes at regular intervals, and the signals detected by the sensors 61 . . . 6n are output to the output side of the gate circuit 11. Note that 13 in the figure is a disconnection detection signal that detects a disconnection in the signal cable 7. When the signal cable 7 is detected to be disconnected, it sends a disconnection signal to the gate circuit 11 and invalidates the detection signal output from the gate circuit 11. It is supposed to be.

Next, the operation will be described. The running lane 1 moves along a shelf in an automated warehouse (not shown), and the carriage lift motor 14 is rotated by a command signal sent from the control device 5, so that the lift carriage 3 moves up and down.

In addition, as the elevating carriage 3 moves up and down, the sensors 61...6
Detects shelves, etc., and uses that information as a signal for parallel/
Send to serial converter 8.

The parallel/serial converter 8 has a plurality of sensors 61...
The signal from 6n is converted into a serial signal every signal transmission period and transmitted to the signal cable 7.

The transmitted serial signal is converted into the original parallel signal by the serial/parallel converter 10 in the control device 5,
Each sensor 5. ...Output as a 6n detection signal.

As a result, the signals detected by the various sensors 61...6n can be extracted for each sensor 61...6n, and based on these signals, the elevating carriage 3 can be raised and lowered,
The operation of the transfer device provided on the elevating carriage 3 is now controlled.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, this invention first converts the signals detected by various sensors provided on the lifting carriage into serial signals and sends them to the signal cable.
Signals from multiple sensors can be transmitted through one or multiple signal cables, and the number of core wires in the electrical cable can be significantly reduced compared to the conventional system in which a signal cable is provided for each sensor.

This eliminates the need to run heavy electrical cables between the control device and the lifting cables, reducing the number of man-hours required for wiring work, and the lifting carriage does not need to be lifted or lowered without being burdened by heavy electrical cables. Since there is no power source, the capacity of the driving source for lifting can be reduced, which is advantageous.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of a running lane, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a signal transmission path, and Fig. 3 is a timing chart showing the timing of No. 8 transmission. 1 is the running lane, 2 is the mast, 3 is the lifting carriage,
5 is a control device, 61...6n are various sensors, and 7 is a signal cable. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] A moving lane 1 that moves along shelves installed in an automated warehouse is provided with an elevating carriage 3 that moves up and down along the mast 2 of the moving lane 1, and various sensors 6_1 provided on this elevating carriage 3. ... 6n is transmitted to the control device 5 installed on the side of the mast 2 by the signal cable 7. In the automatic warehouse running lane, the signals detected by the various sensors 6_1...6n are serially transmitted. The automated warehouse running system is characterized in that the serial signal is converted into a signal and sent to the signal cable, and the control device 5 side converts this serial signal into a parallel signal and takes it out as a detection signal for each sensor 6_1...6n. The lane signal transmission method to be used.