Tiered control architecture for material handling
First Claim
1. A conveyor sortation system having a plurality of conveyors that are operable to handle articles comprising;
- a plurality of sensors for sensing information about said conveyor system;
a plurality of actuators for controlling operation of at least one of said conveyors to handle articles;
a plurality of low-level controllers that receives signals from at least one of said sensors and output signals to activate at least one of said actuators, said low-level controllers developing status information related to the operation of said at least one of said sensors, said at least one of said actuators, or both;
a plurality of mid-level controllers that receives said status information from said low-level controllers and outputs commands to said low-level controllers, said commands being based, at least partially, on said status information;
said plurality of mid-level controllers including a gap manager and a divert manager, said gap manager controlling a size of a gap between adjacent articles in said conveying system and said divert manager controlling a diversion of articles onto a plurality of branch conveyors; and
a high-level controller that receives said status information from said mid-level controllers and outputs operational commands to said mid-level controllers, said operational commands to said mid-level controllers being based, at least partially, on said status information such that said high-level controller oversees the operation of said plurality of mid-level and low-level controllers.
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Abstract
A control architecture for material handling includes multiple tiers of controllers, such as three. The lowest-level controllers interact directly with sensors and actuators used in the material handling system, such as photo-eyes and motors used with conveyors. The lowest-level controllers receive higher level commands from one or more mid-level controllers. The mid-level controllers, in turn, receive still higher level commands and information from at least one upper level controller. Each mid and low level controller is designed to include sufficient intelligence to deal with many of the signals and messages it receives without having to forward those signals or messages to the next higher level controller and await instructions from that higher level controller. The system thus distributes intelligence amongst the controllers. The system is well-adapted for application to conveyor control systems.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A conveyor sortation system having a plurality of conveyors that are operable to handle articles comprising;
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a plurality of sensors for sensing information about said conveyor system; a plurality of actuators for controlling operation of at least one of said conveyors to handle articles; a plurality of low-level controllers that receives signals from at least one of said sensors and output signals to activate at least one of said actuators, said low-level controllers developing status information related to the operation of said at least one of said sensors, said at least one of said actuators, or both; a plurality of mid-level controllers that receives said status information from said low-level controllers and outputs commands to said low-level controllers, said commands being based, at least partially, on said status information; said plurality of mid-level controllers including a gap manager and a divert manager, said gap manager controlling a size of a gap between adjacent articles in said conveying system and said divert manager controlling a diversion of articles onto a plurality of branch conveyors; and a high-level controller that receives said status information from said mid-level controllers and outputs operational commands to said mid-level controllers, said operational commands to said mid-level controllers being based, at least partially, on said status information such that said high-level controller oversees the operation of said plurality of mid-level and low-level controllers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification