Conveyor system for conveying objects and control process for such a system
AssigneeEisenmann SE
InventorsHerbert Schulze, Svenja Vetter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A control process for a conveyor system for conveying pallets or other objects comprises at least two mutually separate free-moving, i.e. not rail-mounted, conveyor units. Of the at least two conveyor units, a first conveyor unit is assigned a superordinate status and a second conveyor unit is assigned a subordinate status. The second conveyor unit therefore follows the first conveyor unit. To this end, the second conveyor unit detects a shift in the mutual relative position of the two conveyor units with the aid of a sensor and modifies its driving parameters depending on the shift in position detected by the sensor.
Claims7
A control process for controlling a conveyor system, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing laden and unladen load carriers,
- b) providing a conveyor system which comprises a first and a second free-moving conveyor unit being separated from each other, wherein each conveyor unit comprises:
- a chassis configured to move on floor rollers,
- a supporting element which is carried along by the chassis and is configured to be lifted or lowered in relation to the chassis in such a way that, in an empty configuration, the conveyor unit can move under one of the load carriers and, in a conveying configuration, the conveyor unit can carry one of the load carriers by means of the supporting element;
- a drive system which is configured to drive at least one of the floor rollers and the supporting element, and
- a control device, to which a central control assigns a route, and which determines, on the basis of the route, driving parameters which are used to control the drive system,
- wherein the first and the second conveyer unit together form, when they are in the conveying state and are arranged so that their longitudinal axes extend parallel to each other, a conveyor device that is configured to carry a load carrier;
- c) at least when the load carrier is unladen and the first and second conveyor units are in the conveying configuration:
- a superordinate status is assigned to the first conveyor unit and a subordinate status is assigned to the second conveyor unit in such a way that the second conveyor unit follows the first conveyor unit, and
- the second conveyor unit detects a shift in the mutual relative position of the first and the second conveyor unit with the aid of a sensor and modifies driving parameters, which are used to control the second conveyor unit, depending on the shift in the relative position which is detected by the sensor.
A conveyor system for conveying objects, which comprises at least a first free-moving conveyor unit and a second free-moving conveyor unit which is separate from the first conveyor unit, wherein each conveyor unit comprises:
- a) a chassis configured to move on floor rollers,
- b) a supporting element which is carried along by the chassis and is configured to be lifted or lowered in relation to the chassis in such a way that, in an empty configuration, the conveyor unit can move under one of the load carriers and, in a conveying configuration, the conveyor unit can carry one of the load carriers by means of the supporting element;
- c) a drive system which is configured to drive at least one of the floor rollers and the supporting element, and
- d) a control device which is configured determine, on the basis of a route assigned from a central control, driving parameters used to control the drive system,
- wherein the second conveyor unit comprises a sensor configured to detect a shift in a mutual relative position of the first and the second conveyor unit, and wherein the second conveyor unit is configured to modify the driving parameters determined by its control device depending on the shift in the relative position detected by the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.