FR2496291A1 - Controller for vehicles operating over long fixed paths - uses opto-couplers passing by bar coded translucent cards which give data on position for comparison with required position - Google Patents

Abstract

The control of vehicles or elevators operating over a fixed long path is made more reliable by using optical reading of encoded plates fixed at the various locations along the path. Optical encoding methods give good noise, immunity, increasing the reliability of operation. An array of opto-emitters and corresp. opto detectors pass over a translucent card with dark bars giving the coded information appropriate to the location. An electronic the recorded position and the stored required position and issues control signals on speed, direction and stop/go based on the difference between the required and recorded positions.

Description

 The present invention relates to the control of movements of mobiles with large displacements, such as elevators and freight elevators.

 In known devices of this kind, the displacement is determined by the image of the position of the mobile, obtained from a shift register.

The movement of the mobile causing the displacement of the logical information in the register. These devices have the drawback of shifting during electrical disturbances: noise, power cut, bad information.

 Because it does not use counters or registers, the device following the invention makes it possible to avoid these drawbacks. In this one indeed, it is not necessary to carry out operations of readjustment in the event of electrical disturbances, those these oblige at most to repeat the commands of displacements, in case or those would have been erased; the readjustment operations being carried out automatically.

The device which is the subject of the invention is composed of an optoelectronic sensor of approximately six channels, with its light emitter Q and and 2; this is intended to read by transparency or optical reflection of the plates containing the information Q of situations, speeds, stops &, opening of doors; all the information necessary for the proper functioning of the mobile can be coded on these plates. These situation plates include shaded or reflective zones, according to a code corresponding to the functions to be performed, certain elements of the tracking code are similar to those used to codify a dimension of machining or an angle of rotation on automatic machine tools, The other elements of information are used for auxiliary functions, the position and the length of the shaded areas constituting the elements of information.
The electronic device which processes the information is made up of a situation memory 4, a requested position memory 5 of a comparator Q deciding on the stop or the direction of movement of the mobile, of a device for memory equalization intended to cancel all Q orders under the action of an emergency stop from the security systems associated with the mobile, a speed information detector, slowing down of a set of processing auxiliary functions such as door control and safety monitoring 9 r and a coded set of requested position
By way of nonlimiting example, an embodiment of a device according to 1 invention will be described below, applied to the control of an ascen
group 1, 2-speed and automatic door with a high speed of lm50 seconds.

 The coded cards are aligned in a hopper using cables so as to allow them to be moved up or down. These cables are immobilized laterally by sliding spacers, fixed on the guide.

Each card is preceded above and below a smaller card intended for deceleration information. The cards are produced on a transparent and rigid support of approximately 200 by 300 mm, the concealment of the channels is carried out by interposing a black adhesive and a black paint. The level cards -figure: 1 and 2 - contain the channels A: stop, this channel is adjustable in height, according to the inertia of the mobile, B, C, D, E and hexadecimal logical coding of the censidere level, F: validation of the level and control code for automatic doors, possibly a channel G ensuring with F, the servo-control at the position of the cabin. The deceleration cards, thanks to the coding process are selective and allow to proceed to the deceleration over the whole travel of the device between two levels minus the length of a card. In the installation described the descent slowdown is coded by
F alone, the climb by BCDE. Another solution consists in placing the floor code on these cards without A or F, only the wiring of the electronic decoder is to be modified. It is the same if instead of making the cards on a transparent support these are on an opaque support, the information is then openings in the support. At the end of the top and bottom hopper we have "safety" cards used to inhibit any information which could bring the mobile to the extremes of the sheath during a false maneuver. This device is added to the compulsory electrical safety devices and prevents the immobilisation of the mobile by allowing normal movements. For the maintenance personnel, an alert system is placed in the hopper and signals in the revision position the approach of the extreme positions, figure 3.

The optoelectronic sensor consists - Figure 4- 5 - of a light emitter 2, made from a fluorescent tube of 6 watts, of a receiver of 6 or 7 channels in the case of position control, composed of 6 or 7 photoresistors (iO) tDRo3 of RTC brand connected as shown in fig 6
Insensitivity to ambient light is achieved by the interposition of a 6.2 V 11 zener diode. The connection of the sensor to the machinery where the processing electronics is located is carried out by a 10-wire pendant cable.

Electronic data processing is classic, it does not present any particular di ffi cults and a large number of solutions well known to logicians can be used, whether in wired logic or in programmed logic, it is the same for circuits In the example described here, RC circuits and photocouplers were used for the input information and relays for the outputs. Here are the integrated circuits used in the wired logic version: They are typr CMOS brand RCA -figure - 4 and 5 CD4042 6 CD4063 CD4019 Qet Set of combinational logic circuits gates NAND, NOR, or EXCLUDED
SIF and MULTIPLEXER. QO coding circuit CD4532 or LS147 the latter of TEXAS brand. The technical notes of the circuit manufacturers give the details of the connections to be made. Figure 7 Plan 3 gives an example of how the functions work, deceleration (output by the relay interface), memory synchronization memory equalization due to the position of the mobile at the end of the hopper. The Q circuit is a timed memory which has the advantage of deploying low value capacitors and of allowing the delay time to be adjusted by means of a resistor with a low value which makes it insensitive to parasites and therefore allows to place this setting outside of the electronic assembly.

 In cases where the reading conditions are difficult, other types of sensors are used. When reduced dimensions are necessary and when there is a lot of ambient light, an infrared sensor can be used, multiplex module according to the diagram in figure 8; in a dusty environment, the electromagnetic type sensor must be retained.

 In the case where the logical processing is carried out by a programmed logic, the functions 4, 5, 6, 7, are integrated into the program and not visible from the outside, the coding of the information and the preprocessing of the security also allows in this case noticeable simplifications reflected in the program. FIG. 9 gives an exemplary embodiment carried out around a 16-bit PLC. All the interfaces remaining between the two programmed or wired systems are interchangeable.

 The device which is the subject of the invention can be used for controlling the movements of mobiles with large displacements such as hoists, lifts, wagons, wagons, crane carriages, these mobiles moving vertically or horizontally.

 Due to the technique used, particularly advantageous applications may exist between the control of mobiles in an electrically disturbed environment wherever high operational safety is imposed.

Claims (6)

R E V E N D I C A T I O N S 1- Device for controlling mobiles with large displacements without  use of counters or logical registers.  Characterized by the fact that it includes a logical coding of information  tions. The movement of the mobile resulting from the logical comparison between the  real situation of the mobile and that demanded 2- Device according to claim - characterized in that the means of  coding is a photoolectric device. The shutter of each logical channel  being obtained by the interposition between the light emitter and the receiver  of light-opaque materials, called situation maps The sensor and  the light emitter being secured to the mobile; the situation map being  placed in the area to be located, on the route of the mobile.  3- Device according to claim -1- characterized in that the dispos;  tif contains logical channels necessary for localization and channels  specifying other functions such as speeding, stopping, opening  doors, position control on the mobile. 4- Device according to claim -2- characterized in that the cards  situations are made from materials opaque to light, the  logical channels being transparent to light. 5- Device according to claim -2- characterized in that ie available  phstoelectric is a process of infra-red transmission. 6- Device according to claim 9 characterized in that the means  code reading and detection device is a radio transmission device  electric. 7- Device according to claim -2- characterized in that the means  reading and detection is done by mechanical sensors. 8 Device according to claim -Sw characterized in that the means  reading and detection is by reflection of light on the elements  code. 9- Device according to claim-l- characterized in that the means  coding is a multi-channel ultrasonic device.