Railways – Car-carried propulsion system – Electric
Patent
1987-04-16
1990-07-10
Hepperle, Stephen M.
Railways
Car-carried propulsion system
Electric
104252, 105 49, B60L 1538
Patent
active
049400002
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a modular installation for controlled transport of parts or products in a production, assembly or processing line or the like, including a rail network and at least one pallet adapted for circulation on said network.
Different systems are known for the transfer of assembling supports or product pallets designed for circulation on a rail network. In most of these systems, the supports or pallets movable on the rails are driven by various chain or gear mechanisms, and the network generally has the form of a fixed installation mounted in a quasi-definitive manner, capable of assuming the functions defined by the operations which the parts or products have to go through in the course of their production, assembly or processing.
The main drawback of these installations is their lack of flexibility. Their intended purpose is unique and exclusive.
In enterprises where manufactured products go through perfectly defined and unchanging operations, and where the quantities of products made justify the very high investment which the acquisition of a transfer system of known type represents, these installations may be considered to be adapted to their utilization.
However, one may observe in industry a more and more marked tendancy to diversification and establishing small production or assembly units designed for the production of relatively small product series. In workshops charged with producing and assembling such small series of parts, it is unthinkable to envisage the automation of operations by means of a the costly known installations, exclusively adapted to the fabrication of a single product. In these workshops, the acquisition of an automated installation can not be envisaged unless it is capable of being rapidly adapted to different utilizations, that is, if it has a sufficient flexibility to allow it to undergo both a rapid modification of the rail network, that is, of the circuit followed by the pallets or the assembling supports, and a rapid modification of the functions, that is, the operations executed on the parts during their displacement on the network.
These requirements can in no case be met by the known systems, which constitutes a major drawback in the development of automation of the assembling operations of parts produced in relatively small series. It is proposed in the present invention to reduce the difficulties mentioned above and to make available to industry a modular installation with computerized control which allows to design from standard equipment a multitude of installations perfectly adapted to all sorts of applications, even if these applications are limited in time and have to be replaced by others for which an adaptation of the installation is indispensable.
This object is achieved by the installation according to the invention, as mentioned in the preamble, characterized in that said pallet is autonomous and includes its own traction mechanism, in that the installation is equipped with a central data processing unit for developing control signals to be transmitted to said traction mechanism of said pallet, and in that the rail network includes at least one section composed of a first rail element and a second rail element parallel to the first, these elements being designed to convey both said control signals and the feed current and to transmit them to the traction mechanism of the pallet.
According to a preferred embodiment, the rail network includes several independent sections, each of these sections being connected to the central data processing unit for transmitting to the traction mechanism of the pallet control signals corresponding to each section.
The central data processing unit advantageously comprises at least one programmable electronic control unit associated with the independent sections, each independent section preferably including at least one device for detecting the position of the pallets.
Each device for detecting the position of the pallets advantageously includes at least one analog sensor and/or a braking sensor, whil
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patent: 4335381 (1982-06-01), Palmer
patent: 4390172 (1983-06-01), Gotman
patent: 4620280 (1986-10-01), Conklin
Horvath Laszlo
Martin Georges
Schween Heiner
Hepperle Stephen M.
Sysmo S.A.
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