Precise transport positioning apparatus using a closed loop controlled, non-direct drive or friction drive system with absolute positioning encoder
First Claim
1. An apparatus for positioning a workpiece carrier with respect to a workstation comprising:
- a single encoder reader located in a fixed position at a workstation for generating a signal in response to interaction with at least one encoder strip;
a workpiece carrier movable along a path of travel through the workstation, and having an encoder strip connected thereto, the encoder strip operably interacting with the encoder reader located at the workstation; and
a non-direct friction drive engaging the workpiece carrier for moving the carrier along the path of travel through the workstation, the non-direct drive responsive to the signal from the encoder reader in a closed loop feedback control system for precisely locating the workpiece carrier at a predetermined stationary position relative to the workstation, the encoder strip including a plurality of different information segments, one segment comprising a carrier position information segment and another segment comprising an indentification information segment.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for positioning a workpiece carrier with respect to a workstation can include an encoder reader located in a fixed position at a workstation for generating a signal in response to interaction with at least one encoder strip, a workpiece carrier movable along a path of travel through the workstation, and having an encoder strip connected thereto, the encoder strip operably interacting with the encoder reader located at the workstation, and a non-direct drive or friction drive engaging the workpiece carrier for moving the carrier along the path of travel through the workstation, the non-direct drive or friction drive responsive to the signal from the encoder reader in a closed loop feedback control system. The encoder reader can be selected from a group consisting of an optical encoder reader, a magnetic encoder reader, and any other absolute positioning encoder reader. A closed loop feedback control system can be provided for receiving the signal from the encoder reader, and for generating an output signal in response to the signal from the encoder reader in accordance with a program stored in memory. The encoder reader can be used for generating a signal corresponding to at least one of a position identification signal, a workpiece carrier identification signal, and a workpiece configuration identification signal.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for positioning a workpiece carrier with respect to a workstation comprising:
-
a single encoder reader located in a fixed position at a workstation for generating a signal in response to interaction with at least one encoder strip; a workpiece carrier movable along a path of travel through the workstation, and having an encoder strip connected thereto, the encoder strip operably interacting with the encoder reader located at the workstation; and a non-direct friction drive engaging the workpiece carrier for moving the carrier along the path of travel through the workstation, the non-direct drive responsive to the signal from the encoder reader in a closed loop feedback control system for precisely locating the workpiece carrier at a predetermined stationary position relative to the workstation, the encoder strip including a plurality of different information segments, one segment comprising a carrier position information segment and another segment comprising an indentification information segment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for positioning a workpiece carrier with respect to a workstation comprising the steps of:
-
generating a signal in response to interaction with at least one encoder strip with a single encoder reader located in a fixed position at a workstation; operably interacting with the encoder reader located at the workstation with an encoder strip connected to a workpiece carrier movable along a path of travel through the workstation, the encoder strip having a plurality of different information segments, one segment comprising a carrier position information segment and another segment comprising an identification information segment; and engaging the workpiece carrier with a non-direct friction drive for moving the carrier along the path of travel through the workstation, the non-direct friction drive responsive to the signal from the encoder reader in a closed loop feedback control system for precisely locating the workpiece carrier in a predetermined stationary position relative to the workstation, the encoder reader generating a plurality of different signals based on different information embodied in different segments of the encoder strip. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
Specification