U.S. patent application number 11/297765 was filed with the patent office on 2006-04-27 for control and power distribution system for a conveyor.
This patent application is currently assigned to Lockheed Martin Corporation. Invention is credited to Thomas M. Brown, Anthony J. Desanto, Sary J. Locke.
Application Number | 20060086593 11/297765 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32175848 |
Filed Date | 2006-04-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060086593 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brown; Thomas M. ; et
al. |
April 27, 2006 |
Control and power distribution system for a conveyor
Abstract
A conveyor conveys objects. The conveyor includes a plurality of
sections, a first control panel, and a second control panel. The
plurality of sections define the structure of the conveyor. Each of
the plurality of sections has components for controlling the
mechanical operation of each section. The controller controls and
powers the conveyor. The first control panel provides control and
power to a first group of four of the plurality of sections. The
first control panel provides power to the components of the first
group. The second control panel provides control and power to a
second group of four of the plurality of sections. The second
control panel provides power to the components of the second group.
The modular interconnectivity components interconnect the
controller, the first control panel, the second control panel, the
first group, and the second group. The controller provide control
and power to the first control panel and the second control
panel.
Inventors: |
Brown; Thomas M.; (Vestal,
NY) ; Desanto; Anthony J.; (Montrose, PA) ;
Locke; Sary J.; (Endicott, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TAROLLI, SUNDHEIM, COVELL & TUMMINO L.L.P.
1300 EAST NINTH STREET, SUITE 1700
CLEVEVLAND
OH
44114
US
|
Assignee: |
Lockheed Martin Corporation
|
Family ID: |
32175848 |
Appl. No.: |
11/297765 |
Filed: |
December 8, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10288178 |
Nov 5, 2002 |
|
|
|
11297765 |
Dec 8, 2005 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
198/781.1 ;
198/781.06 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 43/10 20130101;
B65G 13/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
198/781.1 ;
198/781.06 |
International
Class: |
B65G 13/06 20060101
B65G013/06 |
Claims
1-5. (canceled)
6. A method for controlling and powering a conveyor, said method
comprising the steps of: defining a control system architecture for
said method, the architecture including off-the-shelf parts;
providing a predetermined quantity of panels for controlling and
powering respective parts of the conveyor; adding an additional
part to the conveyor for increasing capacity of the conveyor;
adding an additional panel to the control system architecture for
controlling and powering the additional part of the conveyor and
interfacing with the predetermined quantity of panels, said step of
adding the additional panel including the inputting of rudimentary
data to the control system architecture.
7. The method as set forth in claim 6 further comprising the steps
of: removing a part of the conveyor for decreasing the capacity of
the conveyor; removing the panel responsible for controlling and
powering the part of the conveyor; and inputting rudimentary data
to remove the panel from the control system architecture.
8. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein each of the panels
are associated with an external component for controlling and
powering an equipment component of the conveyor and a modular
interconnectivity component for interconnecting the panel and the
external component for controlling and powering the external
component by the panel.
9. The method as set forth in claim 8 further including the steps
of: controlling and powering the entire conveyor by means of a
personal computer; controlling and powering a first subsystem of
the conveyor by means of a first panel subservient to the personal
computer; and controlling and powering a second subsystem of the
conveyor by means of a second panel subservient to the personal
computer.
10. An apparatus for controlling and powering a conveyor, said
apparatus comprising: a first means for controlling and powering
said apparatus, said first means comprising a personal computer and
a modular interconnectivity component; and a second means for
controlling and powering a first part of said apparatus, said
second means comprising a first panel, an associated external
component, and a modular interconnectivity component.
11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15 further comprising a
third means for controlling a second part of said apparatus, said
third means including a second panel, an associated external
component, and a modular interconnectivity component.
12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first panel
provides control and power to sixteen conveyor zones.
13. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first panel
provides control and power to thirteen conveyor zones.
14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first means
provides complete control and power to the conveyor.
15. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the additional part
of the conveyor comprises sixteen conveyor zones.
16. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the additional part
of the conveyor comprises thirteen zones.
17. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the additional panel
is subservient to a personal computer.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a power roller conveyor
and, more particularly to a control and power distribution system
for a power roller conveyor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A conventional power roller conveyor typically has pre-wired
controls in side rails and includes a power supply in each section.
Custom components and field wiring of power drops by electricians
increase the total cost of construction and assembly. For
modularity, each section of the conventional conveyor has power and
control connectors that mate with the sections upstream and
downstream of it. If a section unseats during installation or
normal use, the conventional conveyor requires extensive debug time
to trouble-shoot.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A conveyor in accordance with the present invention is
controlled and powered efficiently, economically, and reliably. The
conveyor combines the control and power components of up to sixteen
30-inch zones into one enclosure or panel. Each panel distributes
I/O and 24 VAC power locally with source power (i.e., 480 VAC) and
field bus communication distributed regionally. Thus, power is
distributed with low line loss and lower gauge wiring by local
power supplies, which may efficiently convert power to 24V for
local I/O.
[0004] The conveyor in accordance with the present invention
defines a system that is packaged to reduce total cost of
ownership. With modular cables and one-size-for-all panels, less
engineering for each site installation is required. Fewer
components are necessary to procure and spare. Installation only
requires the mating up of keyed connectors at the panels and I/O
points, which may be performed quickly with the lowest level of
skilled labor. Field integration testing may also be reduced since
the cables and panel are tested at assembly, typically off site.
Further, maintenance may be reduced with fewer non-standard,
pre-fabricated replacement parts.
[0005] This combination of components and their unique packaging is
a cost effective system for power roller conveyor applications. The
system requires one power source and one field bus master at the
source of a power-roller conveyor run (a programmable logic
controller with an attached field bus module, a personal computer
scanner card in a PCI slot, etc.). Field bus communication and
power are distributed in cables along the length of the conveyor
run are "daisy-chained" in the control panels which may be located
at about 40 foot increments.
[0006] Each control panel includes quick disconnect bulkhead
connectors, 16 input-16 output I/O modules, a field bus
communications adapter, and a power supply in a safe enclosure. The
panel protects personnel from potential hazards of contact with the
supply side of the power source. Each panel may be field mounted
based on pre-punched holes to a conveyor rail and corresponding
mating flanges on each panel. The panel door may have a disconnect
to isolate personnel from power when the panel door is open. The
disconnect may be overridden for integration and maintenance
operations. Fuses in each panel may protect downstream
components.
[0007] The I/O module may have 16inputs for 16 photo-eye sensors
and 16 outputs for power roller motor driver cards. One photo-eye
and one motor driver card control each 30-inch conveyor zone that
is part of up to four standard 10 foot conveyor sections. The
conveyor in accordance with the present invention is not limited to
this configuration, however, and is flexible enough to accommodate
all combinations (i.e., straddling mechanical sections with
separate panels, etc.). Thus, as stated above, one panel controls
up to 40 feet of conveyor.
[0008] Additionally, a panel may have a field bus communications
adaptor attached to it for one of several open buses such as Device
Net, Interbus, Profibus, or Ethernet. The field bus protocol
typically communicates with a bus master card in the controller.
The card preferably communicates via an Object Linking and
Embedding for Process Control (OPC) compliant interface to a
software application, such as Think & Do Studio by Entivity.
The software application manages the flow of product across the
conveyor utilizing logic driven by I/O information. Thus, the logic
loaded into multiple PLC's in prior art systems may be centrally
located in the controller. This reduces development, installation,
and support effort while creating a single point of contact for
management level information systems.
[0009] The system in accordance with the present invention reduces
the number of power drops, individual power supply points, and
communication nodes (i.e., distributed Input/Output modules).
Rather than a field bus node in every zone or one per conveyor
section, up to sixteen zones are combined into a single control
panel through cables. Field wiring is replaced by quick disconnect
cables. Pre-wired and pretested control panels eliminate field
wiring. The wiring is less expensive because it is standardized and
made in bulk. A larger single power supply driving DC loads in both
directions reduces the number of individual power supplies per
section of conveyor. The system further allows significant
reduction of the total number of connectors and terminations per
installation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will
become more readily apparent from the following description of an
example embodiment of the invention as taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, which are a part hereof, and
wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an example part of a
conveyor system for use with the a system in accordance with the
present invention; and
[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an example part of a
system in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF AN EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT
[0013] A system 100 (as illustrated schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2)
in accordance with the-present invention controls and powers a
conveyor 1. An example accumulation conveyor 1 for use with the
system 100 may use electrical sensors, motor driver cards, and a
power roller. Each section 10 of the example conveyor 1 is linked
to three adjacent sections 10 (not shown). A network of
control/power panels 110, each controlling and powering groups of
four sections 10, and a controller 120 interact to control and
power the entire conveyor 1.
[0014] As illustrated schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2, a 30'' zone
19 of a section 10 of the conveyor 1 may include a photo-eye sensor
23 and a motor driver card 24 powered by a 24 VDC power supply
panel 110. Therefore, four zones 19 may correspond to four
inputs.(i.e., photo-eye sensors 23) and four outputs (i.e., motor
driver cards 24) in the panel 110, plus 24 VDC power distribution
from a power supply.
[0015] The control and power distribution system 100 in accordance
with the present invention provides a minimized setup time, quiet
operation (no mechanical sensors and the conveyor of the system
only runs when necessary), reduced costs (no PLC and complicated
wiring, no air or electrical piping required), easy to maintain
architecture (all control modules may be identical and made from
standard industrial products, quick disconnects allow for fast
replacement of components). The power supplies may be sized for
ampere draw of the motor driver cards. The power rollers may be
sized for motor torque and weight.
[0016] Each panel 110 mounts to part of a group of four sections
10, or sixteen zones 19, of the example conveyor 1. Each of the
four sections 10 is linked to the panel 110 using a single, 10
conductor, quick-disconnect cable 25, 26, 27, 28. No additional
devices (i.e., multiple PLCs) are needed to control a basic
conveyor such as the example conveyor 1. Power is supplied to the
panels 110 through cables 31 from the power supply 140. Wire
hook-up is simple. After mechanically connecting each zone 19 to
the next zone 19, and each section 10 to the next section 10,
control and power cables may be laid in the conveyor rails.
[0017] The panel 110 may be made from standard industrial products.
Cables are pre-wired to connect to the four corresponding sections
10 with quick-disconnect cables installed for the photo-eyes 23 and
the motor driver cards 24.
[0018] The example zone 19 may further include a frame 3 and a
driving roller 5 typically in the middle of between six and fifteen
following rollers 7. The driving roller 5 contains a motor. The
driving roller 5 may also be mechanically linked (i.e., banded,
belted, O-rings, etc.) to each of the following rollers 7 so that
all rollers 5, 7 rotate when the motor is operating.
[0019] Up to sixteen zones 19 may have a single associated
control/power panel 110 (i.e., four zones 19 per ten-foot section
10). The panel 110 includes a suitably sized housing enclosing
components therein. A photo-eye sensor 23 may be provided which may
be linked to the panel 110 via the modular cable harness 25. The
panel 110 also includes a connecting cable 30 that communicates via
a quick-connect coupling (not shown) for networking to a central
controller such as personal computer 120.
[0020] A typical field bus may coordinate up to sixty-four nodes
121. (one at the controller 120 and at each panel 110) controlled
by the same field bus master card in a controller, typically a
personal computer 120 (FIG. 2). One master card may thereby control
1024 zones (i.e., zone 19). Further, a personal computer with
sufficient capability may drive up to seven master cards
simultaneously (i.e., 7.times.1024 zones of conveyor).
[0021] Thus, the control and power distribution system 100
comprises modular components that may be combined to "tier up" into
a complete control and power distribution system architecture for
the example conveyor 1. The example system 100 may thereby control
up to 17,920 feet of the example conveyor (i.e., 7.times.1024
zones.times.2.5 feet per zone). A plurality of controllers (i.e.,
personal computer 120) may be combined to greater lengths of
conveyor.
[0022] Although the invention has been described in conjunction
with the example embodiment, it is to be appreciated that various
modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *