Method of and apparatus for controlling hopper gate motion
First Claim
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1. A method of controlling the motion of a hopper gate actuated by a stepping motor, said method comprising the steps ofselecting a mode of opening and closing motion of said hopper gate in terms of positions thereof at selected times,forming a program by determining a sequence of pulses to be applied to said stepping motor so as to execute said mode of motion by said hopper gate, andtransmitting pulses to said stepping motor according to said program.
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Abstract
A hopper gate of a combinational weighing system is opened and closed by a stepping motor to which pulses are supplied according to a program prepared for a desired action mode such that fine control of the gate motion can be achieved.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of controlling the motion of a hopper gate actuated by a stepping motor, said method comprising the steps of
selecting a mode of opening and closing motion of said hopper gate in terms of positions thereof at selected times, forming a program by determining a sequence of pulses to be applied to said stepping motor so as to execute said mode of motion by said hopper gate, and transmitting pulses to said stepping motor according to said program.
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5. An apparatus for controlling the motion of a hopper gate comprising
control means for sequentially transmitting a series of pulse signals according to a program, and driving means for moving said hopper gate by an angle and in a direction in response to each of said pulse signals.
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13. In a combinational weighing system comprising
a plurality of article batch handling units each serving to receive an article batch, to output a weight value signal indicative of the weight of said article batch, and to discharge said article batch in response to a discharge signal, each article batch handling unit including one or more hoppers with gates, and a control means serving to periodically carryout combinational computation on the basis of inputted weight values, to thereby select at least one combination of article batch handling units and to output discharge signals to said selected article batch handling units, the improvement wherein said control means controls the motion of said gate by sequentially transmitting a series of pulse signals according to a preset program, and wherein each of said gates is moved by an angle and in a direction in response to each of said pulse signals.
Specification