Load-dependent asynchronous drive for a transport path

• US 6,897,625 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2003
• Issued: 05/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Hoffmann, Gerhard, Spitzer, Günther, Trautner, Friedrich, Junk, Rainer, Hoene, Albrecht, Brixius, Wolfgang, Gräfer, Dominik
• Primary Examiner(s): Martin, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, Patrick
• Application Number:
  US10/636,914
• Publication Number:
  US 20040075405A1
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 198/571, 198/572, 198/575, 198/576, 198/577, 198/608, 198/619, 198/634, 198/788, 198/761, 198/762, 198/810.04, 318/69, 318/646, 318/34
• US Class Current: 318/69
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/10 Sequence control of conveyors operating in combination
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 47/31 by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series

Abstract

A conveyor system for transported goods which are transported with a preset transport speed and method for operating the conveyor system are described. The individual conveyers of the system are driven by asynchronous motors. Sensors associated with the conveyors measure the actual transport speed of the transported goods on conveyors to determine the dependence of the actual transport speed on the load, such as the weight of the transported goods. A controller adjusts the speed of the conveyors based on the signals received from the sensors.

Claims

1. A conveyor system for transported goods, comprising:

a plurality of conveyors, each conveyor having a preset transport speed that depends on a length of the conveyor,

a plurality of asynchronous motors associated with the conveyors, whereby the conveyors and the asynchronous motors are placed into one-to-one correspondence,

a plurality of sensors associated with each of the conveyors for measuring an actual transport speed of the conveyors to determine a load dependence of the actual transport speed, and

a controller receiving control signals from the sensors for compensating differences between the preset transport speed and the actual transport speed,

wherein the sensors associated with one of the conveyors measure a an actual travel time for a transported good traveling at least two of the plurality of sensors located on the same conveyor, and wherein a difference between a nominal travel time and the actual travel time is supplied as a control signal to the controller to control the asynchronous motor of a downstream conveyor so that the downstream conveyor receives the goods with the actual transport speed of the one conveyor.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the actual travel time is used to compute an average actual transport speed, with the average actual transport speed being compared to the preset speed for the conveyor, wherein the difference between the average actual transport speed and the preset speed is used to control the subsequent conveyor.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller further includes a converter that controls a rotation speed of the asynchronous motors, with the preset transport speed determining a base parameter that controls a converter frequency and converter voltage of the converter.

4. The drive of claim 1, wherein in addition, accelerations and decelerations of the transported good are taken into consideration.

5. The drive of claim 1, wherein the controller its implemented as one of a proportional controller, proportional-integral controller, a proportional-integral-derivative controller, a bi-level controller and as a nonlinear controller.

6. A conveyor system for transported goods which are transported with a preset temporal separation between directly adjacent goods, comprising:

a plurality of conveyors,

asynchronous motors associated with the conveyors whereby the conveyors and the asynchronous motors are placed into one-to-one correspondence, a plurality of sensors associated with the conveyors in a one-to-one correspondence and arranged in an upstream section of the conveyors for measuring an actual temporal separation between directly adjacent transported goods when the goods travel past the sensor associated with one of the conveyors, and

a controller receiving control signals from the sensor, and

controlling the asynchronous motor associated with the corresponding one of the conveyors, while the two directly adjacent transported goods are still located on the corresponding one of the conveyers after measurement of their temporal separation, to convey the transported goods to a following conveyor with the preset temporal separation.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the controller further includes a converter that controls a rotation speed of the asynchronous motors, with the preset temporal separation determining a base parameter that controls a converter frequency and converter voltage of the converter.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein a nominal temporal separation of the transported goods is preset for each conveyor, which depends on the preset transport speed and a length of the conveyor, and wherein the temporal separation is measured by the sensor associated with the conveyor and a difference between the nominal temporal separation and the temporal separation is supplied as an input variable to the controller.

9. The drive of claim 6, wherein in addition, accelerations and decelerations of the transported good are taken into consideration.

10. The drive of claim 6, wherein the controller its implemented as one of a proportional controller, proportional-integral controller, a proportional-integral-derivative controller, a bi-level controller and as a nonlinear controller.