Control system for a monorail vehicle
First Claim
1. A control system for a monorail train which runs on a track, the control system comprising:
- a DC brushless motor which produces motive power for the train;
at least one Hall effect device which both (a) commutates the motor and (b) permits a determination of the number of revolutions of the motor;
a PC controller on the train;
and means for coupling signals from the Hall effect device to the PC controllerso as to permit the PC controller to update the position of the train on the track.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monorail vehicle used for material handling purposes comprises a number of cars which run on a track. The cars are linked together in one or more trains and each train has a master car and several slave cars. An embedded computer in the master car keeps track of the location on the train on the track by means of pulses from a Hall effect sensor in a brushless DC motor which powers the train. A central computer in an off board work station issues commands to the train and by monitoring its position on the track loop, the embedded computer in the master car of the train determines when to execute the command. A special jumper is used to connect the cars of the train together which distributes control signals to the various cars in the train without regard to the position of the cars in the train.
47 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A control system for a monorail train which runs on a track, the control system comprising:
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a DC brushless motor which produces motive power for the train; at least one Hall effect device which both (a) commutates the motor and (b) permits a determination of the number of revolutions of the motor; a PC controller on the train; and means for coupling signals from the Hall effect device to the PC controller so as to permit the PC controller to update the position of the train on the track. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A control system for a monorail train which runs on a track, the control system comprising:
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a DC brushless motor which produces motive power for the train; at least one Hall effect device for commutating the motor, a PC controller on the train, means for coupling signals from the Hall effect device to the PC controller, whereby the PC controller can update the position of the train on the track, and sensors positioned along the track for detecting the presence of a load on a car of the train, and for detecting whether the load is centered on the car, or is located to the front or rear of the car, whereby the PC controller can advance or retard discharge of a load from the car depending on the location of the load on the car.
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7. A method for controlling a monorail train which runs on a track in which a DC brushless motor on the train produces motive power for the train and is commutated by a Hall effect device, comprising the steps of:
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commutating the motor by the Hall effect device, obtaining a first signal from the Hall effect device, transmitting the first signal to a PC controller on the train, obtaining a second signal from the Hall effect device indicating a direction of rotation of the motor, transmitting the second signal to the PC controller, updating the position of the train on the track based on the first and second signals. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of timing the discharge of a load on a material handling train on at least one track, the method comprising the steps of:
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positioning at least one sensor along the track for detecting the presence of a load on a car on the train, detecting whether the load is longitudinally centered on the car, or is located to the front or rear of the car based on signals from the sensor, and advancing or retarding discharge of a load on a car depending on the location of the load on the car.
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Specification