Method and apparatus for transportation of materials

A method for processing materials in a processing system including a plurality of subsystems which process at least one selected material and operate independently of each other, a means for relatively moving materials with respect to said subsystems and a transmission medium connected with said subsystems for transmitting information relating to the materials to said subsystem, comprising the following steps executed by each of said subsystems:

• transmitting information relating to the materials moved by said moving means to said transmission medium;
• receiving information relating to the materials moved by said moving means and transmitted from other subsystem through said transmission medium;
• selecting at least one necessary material from among the materials moved by said moving means based on the received information relating to the materials from said transmission medium;
• and
• processing said selected material upon arrival said selected material.

An apparatus for processing material comprising:

• a plurality of first subsystems each of which processes at least one selected material;
• means for relatively moving the materials with respect to said subsystems;
• a plurality of second subsystems associated with said first subsystems, respectively, and connected to a transmission medium, each of said second subsystems configured to operate independently of each other based on information on said transmission medium and including means for transmitting information relating to the materials moved by said moving means to said transmission medium;
• and
• means for selecting at least one necessary material from among the materials moved by said moving means based on the information relating to the materials transmitted from other subsystems and received from said transmission medium, and each of said first subsystems including means responsive to selection of at least one necessary material by the associated second subsystem for processing said selected material upon arrival thereof.

A method for transportation of materials in a processing system including a plurality of processing means processing materials transported thereto by transporting means, comprising the steps of:

• loading materials on said transporting means;
• issuing a material request from any processing means when the processing means requires a material;
• communicating the material request from the processing means which issued the material request to other processing means;
• detecting materials transported by said transporting means by using a detector means associated with at least one of said processing means and storing the results of detection;
• causing each of said processing means to search a requested material indicated by the material request, based on the stored results of detection;
• reserving said requested material for the processing means which issued the material request when said material is found on said transporting means as a result of the searching step;
• and unloading said reserved material from said transporting means upon arrival of said material at the position of said processing means which issued the material request thereby supplying said material to said processing means.

An apparatus for transportation of materials in a processing system including a plurality of processing means processing materials transported thereto by transporting means, comprising load/unload commanding means for commanding loading of materials on said transporting means and commanding unloading of said materials from said transporting means;

• transmission control means provided for each of said work-processing means for transmitting a material request issued from processing means associated therewith to other processing means and receiving a material request transmitted from the other processing means;
• and material selector means provided for each of said processing means and comprising means for storing the material request issued from the processing means associated therewith and the material requests transmitted from the other processing means;
• means for detecting materials on said transporting means and storing the results of detection;
• means for searching a requested material based on the contents of said material request storing means and said means for storing the results of detection;
• and means for reserving the requested material when it is found by said searching means that the requested material on said transporting means and reporting a reservation of requested material to other processing means.

A method for controlling machine tools in a distributed system having a plurality of subsystems, each of which has a machine tool and controller for operating an associated machine tool and a transmission medium connected with said subsystems for transmitting information to said subsystems, comprising the following steps executed by each of said subsystems:

• transmitting the information to said transmission medium;
• receiving information transmitted from other subsystems through said transmission medium;
• independently determining whether or not the machine tool is operated based on the received information from said transmission medium;
• and
• operating said machine tool based on the independently determined
• result.

A method for controlling machine tools in a distributed system having a plurality of subsystems, each of which has a machine tool for processing at least one material and a controller for operating the machine tool, a means for relatively moving materials with respect to said subsystems and a transmission medium connected with said subsystems for transmitting information relating to the materials to said subsystems, comprising the following steps executed by each of said subsystems:

• transmitting information relating to the materials moved by said moving means to said transmission medium;
• receiving information relating to the materials moved by said moving means and transmitted from other subsystems through said transmission medium;
• independently determining whether or not the machine tool is operated for processing the material moved by said moving means based on the received information relating to the materials from said transmission medium:
• and
• operating the machine tool based on the independently determined result.

A material selector subsystem, comprising:

• means for detecting a pallet on a conveyor;
• a pallet detector for receiving signals from the detecting means;
• a material selector for selectively unloading materials from the conveyor;
• a material selector controller operatively associated with the material selector, including a processor, an interface operatively associated with the pallet detector, an interface operatively associated with the information transmission controller, a material tracking file operatively associated with the processor, a requested material data file operatively associated with the processor, a pallet monitoring timer operatively associated with the processor, a material request monitoring timer operatively associated with the processor, and an interface for connecting the subsystem with a materials processor for processing a selected one of the materials on the conveyor;
• and
• an information transmission controller for exchange of information with at least one other material selector subsystem.

A method for manufacturing a product in a distributed system including a plurality of subsystems for transmitting information between said subsystems, said method comprising the following steps executed by each of said subsystems:

• transmitting the information to said transmitting medium;
• receiving the information transmitted from other subsystems through said transmission medium;
• independently selecting operation to be performed by its own subsystem based on the received information from said transmission medium;
• and
• executing the selected operation based on the result of the selecting
• step. .Badd.24. A producing system comprising;
• transporting means for transporting materials to be used for production of an object;
• a plurality of subsystems of machine tools each for processing at least a selected one of the materials transported by said transporting means;
• detecting means provided to each of said subsystems for detecting the materials transported by said transporting means;
• unloading means provided to each of said subsystems for unloading from said transporting means the materials which the associated subsystem requires;
• a plurality of control means respectively provided to each of said subsystems for controlling the unloading means of the associated subsystem;
• and
• transmitting means for transmitting therethrough information among the plurality of control means which have been provided to each of said subsystems, respectively,
• wherein a control means includes means for instructing the associated uploading means to unload materials based on a request for material issued by the associated subsystem, a detection of materials by the associated detecting means and information transmitted through said transmitting
• means from the other control means..Baddend..Badd.25. The producing system according to claim 24, wherein the information transmitted through said transmitting means includes material information regarding the materials transported by said transporting means..Baddend..Badd.26. The producing system according to claim 25, wherein said control means includes first holding means for holding information as to material requested by the associated subsystem and second holding means for holding information transmitted through said transmitting means from said other than control means..Baddend..Badd.27. The producing system according to claim 26, wherein said control means broadcasts a request for material issued by the associated subsystem to the control means provided to the other subsystems with reference to information held in the first and second holding means..Baddend..Badd.28. The producing system according to claim 27, wherein said control means includes means for searching the information held in the second holding means to discover the identity of material requested by the request for material broadcasted from any of the other subsystems and means for reserving the material whose identity is discovered by the searching..Baddend..Badd.29. A processing system for processing materials comprising:
• plurality of subsystems;
• transporting means for transporting the materials to be processed circulatingly through the subsystems;
• a transmission medium connecting the subsystems in a loop for transmitting information relating to the materials through the loop,
• wherein said subsystems operate independently of each other based on the information on said transmission medium and each of said subsystems includes a transmitter of information relating to materials to the transmission medium, a receiver of information relating to the materials from the transmission medium and means for determining whether or not one of the materials is to be processed based on the received information and processes the one material according to the determination..Baddend..Badd.30. The processing system according to claim 29, including an additional subsystem operatively associated with said transmission medium and comprising a transmitter of information relating to materials to the transmission medium, a receiver of information relating to the materials from the transmission medium, and means for loading newly supplied materials on said transporting means and means for unloading already processed materials..Baddend..Badd.31. A method of processing materials in a processing system including a plurality of subsystems, and transmission medium connected with the subsystems for transmitting information relating to the materials to said subsystems, said subsystems operating independently of each other based on the information on said transmission medium, said method comprising the steps of:
• circulating the materials through said subsystems by transporting means;
• transmitting, in each of said subsystems, information relating to the materials from said transmission medium;
• receiving, in each of said subsystems, said information relating to the materials from said transmission medium;
• determining, in each of said subsystems, whether or not one of the materials transported thereto by said transporting means is to be processed based on the received information;
• and
• processing, in each of said subsystems, the one material responsive to the determination to process the one material..Baddend..Badd.32. The method according to claim 31, further comprising the steps of:
• 1oading newly externally supplied materials on said transporting means;
• and
• unloading already processed materials from said transporting means..Baddend .