Analog control system

Claim 2

In a material-handling apparatus for delivering material from one point to another including a carrier and a motor for driving the carrier, the improvement comprising a control system for controlling the acceleration and/or deceleration of the carrier comprising signal-generating means for generating a signal representative of a motion during at least a selected period of time, controlled conducting means transmitting said signal during a portion of said at least a selected period of time, and function generator means for generating a speed-versus-distance acceleration and/or deceleration curve in response to said transmitted signal for controlling the speed of the motor, said function generator including digital storage means for storing a digital binary number representative of a speed characteristic of the motor and providing an output signal for said speed control, the speed varying in response to the magnitude of the binary number, and means altering said binary number aS a function of the distance traveled by the carrier after the start of the portion of the time to vary the speed of the carrier in accordance with the altered number.

Claim 3

The improvement of claim 1 wherein said storage means includes a presettable counter.

Claim 4

The improvement of claim 2 wherein said digital binary number is set into said counter at least as early as the start of said portion of time.

Claim 5

The improvement of claim 3 further including a digital-to-analog converter and wherein the output of said counter is used to control the speed of the carrier.

Claim 6

The improvement of claim 4 wherein said control system further includes a summing circuit and a speed-biasing circuit, the output of said converter and said biasing circuit being fed to said summing circuit, the output of the summing circuit controlling the carrier.

Claim 7

The improvement of claim 5 wherein said converter provides a predetermined speed signal to said summing circuit which may be reduced to zero, said biasing circuit producing, when said speed signal is zero, an additional speed signal to control the speed of said carrier.

Claim 8

The improvement of claim 6 wherein said biasing circuit signal is a fixed presettable signal, said biasing signal operating the carrier at a low creep speed.

Claim 9

The improvement of claim 7 wherein said speed-biasing circuit includes a creep speed reference circuit which is presettable with a digital binary signal, said speed-biasing circuit further including a digital-to-analog comparator for inverting said creep speed reference signal.

Claim 10

The improvement of claim 8 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a stroking cylinder feedback assembly, and means for comparing the output of said stroking cylinder feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.

Claim 11

The improvement of claim 9 wherein the control system further includes an analog comparator and said stroking cylinder feedback assembly provides an analog signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, said analog comparator comparing the analog speed signal from said analog-summing circuit and the analog signal for said stroking cylinder feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 12

The improvement of claim 1 wherein said digital storage means is a presettable decrementable counter for generating a deceleration curve in response to the altering of the binary number in accordance with distance traveled.

Claim 13

The improvement of claim 1 wherein said digital storage means is a presettable incrementable counter for generating an acceleration curve in response to the altering of the binary number in accordance with the distance traveled.

Claim 14

The improvement of claim 1 wherein said altering means includes a comparator circuit, said comparator circuit being sequentially provided with a series of numbers which vary in accordance with the variation of said binary number said comparator circuit varying said binary number upon achievement of a preselected relationship between said binary number and a function of distance traveled by the carrier.

Claim 15

The improvement of claim 13 wherein said control system further includes a distance-signal generating circuit for generating an output signal which varies as a function of distance traveled by the carrier.

Claim 16

The improvement of claim 14 wherein the generation of the distance-traveled signal to said comparator circuit commences at least as late as the start of said portion of the selected period of time.

Claim 17

The improvement of claim 14 wherein said control system further includes a distance tachometer which generates a series of pulses, the number of pulses generated being a function of distance traveled.

Claim 18

The improvement of claim 16 wherein said control system further includes gating means disposed between said tachometer and said travel comparator, said gating means being controlled to provide the output pulses from said tachomeTer at least as late as the start of said period.

Claim 19

The improvement of claim 17 further including counting means interconnected with said tachometer to count at least certain of said output pulses from said tachometer.

Claim 20

The improvement of claim 18 wherein counting means counts all of the pulses during the period that said deceleration curve is being generated.

Claim 21

The improvement of claim 19 wherein the binary number set into said decrementable counter is fed to said comparator and the output from said tachometer pulse counting circuit is also fed to said comparator, and means for generating an output signal from said comparator when coincidence is achieved between the binary number and the tach pulses counted by said counting circuit.

Claim 22

The improvement of claim 20 wherein said output signal is fed to said decrementable counter and said tach counter circuit, said output signal resetting said counter circuit.

Claim 23

The improvement of claim 21 wherein said output signal decrements said decrementable counter.

Claim 24

The improvement of claim 22 wherein said analog signal is decreased in response to the decrementing of said decrementable counter.

Claim 25

The improvement of claim 23 wherein said decrementable counter is decremented to a count of zero.

Claim 26

The improvement of claim 24 wherein said storage means includes a presettable counter.

Claim 27

The improvement of claim 25 wherein said digital binary number is set into said counter at least as early as the start of said portion.

Claim 28

The improvement of claim 26 further including a digital-to-analog converter and wherein the output of said counter is used to control the speed of the carriage.

Claim 29

The improvement of claim 27 wherein said control system further includes a summing circuit and a speed-biasing circuit, the output of said converter and said biasing circuit being fed to said summing circuit, the output of the summing circuit controlling the carrier.

Claim 30

The improvement of claim 28 wherein the output of said decrementable counter is fed to the input circuit of said digital-to-analog converter, said converter providing a zero output signal when said counter has been decremented to zero.

Claim 31

The improvement of claim 29 wherein said speed-biasing circuit provides an additional signal to said summing circuit to maintain said carrier at a creep speed.

Claim 32

The improvement of claim 30 wherein said speed-biasing circuit includes a creep speed reference circuit which is presettable with a digital binary signal, said speed-biasing circuit further including a digital-to-analog converter for converting said creep speed reference signal.

Claim 33

The improvement of claim 31 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a stroking cylinder feedback assembly, and means for comparing the output of said stroking cylinder feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal from said summing circuit.

Claim 34

The improvement of claim 32 wherein the control system further includes an analog comparator and said stroking cylinder feedback assembly provides an analog signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, said analog comparator comparing the analog speed signal from said analog-summing circuit and the analog signal for said stroking cylinder feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 35

The improvement of claim 31 further including means for sensing a preselected position of said carrier relative to one of said one or another stations, numbers for generating a position signal in response to sensing of said position, and means for terminating said creep speed reference signal in response to said signal.

Claim 36

The improvement of claim 34 further including means for sensing the decrementing of said decrementable counter to zero, said gating means being controlled to cease transmission of pulses from said tachometer pulse counting circuit in response to decrementing said counter to zero.

Claim 37

The improvement of claim 35 further including pulse detector means for sensing the generation of pulses from said tachometer generator, said pulse detector circuit generating an output signal in response to a preselected characteristic of said tachometer generator output.

Claim 38

The improvement of claim 36 wherein said preselected characteristic is the lack of a pulse from said tachometer generator for a preset period of time.

Claim 39

The improvement of claim 37 wherein said pulse detector circuit includes means for sensing when said tach pulse generator switches from the generation of a pulse to the lack of generation of a pulse, said circuit providing an output signal when said tach pulse generator fails to switch from the generation of a pulse for a preselected period of time.

Claim 40

In a material-handling apparatus for delivering material from one station to another including a material carrier and a motor for driving the carrier, the improvement comprising a method of controlling the acceleration and/or deceleration of the carrier comprising generating a signal representative of a motion during at least a selected period of time, transmitting said signal during a portion of said at least a selected period of time, and generating a speed-versus-distance acceleration and/or deceleration curve in response to said transmitted signal for controlling the speed of the motor, including storing a digital binary number representative of a speed characteristic of the motor, generating an output signal for said speed control, the speed varying in response to the magnitude of the binary number, and altering said binary number as a function of the distance travelled by the carrier after the start of the portion of the time to vary the speed of the carrier in accordance with the altered number.

Claim 41

In a material-handling apparatus for delivering material from one station to another including a material carrier and a motor for driving the carrier, the improvement comprising a method of controlling the acceleration and/or deceleration of the carrier comprising generating a signal representative of a motion during at least a selected period of time, transmitting said signal during a portion of said at least a selected period of time, and generating a speed-versus-distance acceleration and/or deceleration curve in response to said transmitted signal for controlling the speed of the motor, including storing a digital binary number representative of a speed characteristic of the motor, generating an output signal for said speed control, the speed varying in response to the magnitude of the binary number, and altering said binary number as a function of the distance travelled by the carrier after the start of the portion of the time to vary the speed of the carrier in accordance with the altered number.

Claim 42

The method of claim 39 further including storing said binary number at least as early as the start of said portion.

Claim 43

The method of claim 40 further including using the output said of said counter to control the speed of the carriage.

Claim 44

The method of claim 41 further including providing a predetermined speed signal to a summing circuit which may be reduced to zero, and also providing a biasing signal, when said speed signal is zero, as an additional speed signal to control the speed of said carrier to operate said carrier at a presettable, fixed, low creep speed.

Claim 45

The method of claim 42 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a stroking cylinder feedback assembly, and the method further including comparing the output of said stroking cylinder feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.

Claim 46

The method of claim 43 wherein the method further includes providing an analog signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, and comparing the analog speed signal and the analog signal for said stroking cylinder feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 47

The method of claim 39 further including providing with a series of numbers which vary in accordance with the variation of said binary number, and varying said binary number upon achievement of a preselected relationship between said binary number and a function of distance travelled by the carrier.

Claim 48

The method of claim 45 further including generating an output signal which varies as a function of distance travelled by the carrier.

Claim 49

The method claim 46 further including commencing the distance-traveled signal at least as late as the start of said portion of the selected period of time.

Claim 50

The method of claim 47 further including the step of generating a series of digital pulses as a function of distance traveled.

Claim 51

The method of claim 48 further including the step of controlling the transmission of said pulses during said portion, the start of said transmission of said pulses being at least as late as the start of said period.

Claim 52

The method of claim 49 further including The step of counting the pulses generated during said period and comparing said counted pulses with said stored binary number and generating an output signal when coincidence is achieved between the count of said pulses and said binary number.

Claim 53

The improvement of claim 50 wherein said binary number is decremented in response to achievement of coincidence.

Claim 54

The method of claim 51 wherein said binary number is decremented to a count of zero.

Claim 55

The improvement of claim 52 wherein said zero binary number provides a zero speed signal to said carrier, and the method further including providing an additional speed signal to said carrier to operate said carrier at a creep speed.

Claim 56

The method of claim 53 wherein the claim is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a stroking cylinder feedback assembly including means for generating a signal as a function of the setting of said stroking cylinder, the method further including the step of comparing the signal from the output of the stroking cylinder with the speed signal, including said additional signal, for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.

Claim 57

In a material-handling apparatus for delivering material from one point to another including a carrier and a motor for driving the carrier, the improvement comprising a control system for controlling the acceleration of the carrier comprising signal-generating means for generating a signal representative of a motion during at least a selected period of time, controlled conducting means transmitting said signal during a portion of said at least a selected period of time, and function generator means for generating a speed-versus-distance acceleration curve in response to said transmitted signal for controlling the speed of the motor, said function generator including storage means for storing a number representative of a speed characteristic of the motor and providing an output signal for said speed control, the speed varying in response to the magnitude of the number, and means altering said number as a function of the distance traveled by the carrier after the start of the portion of the time to vary the speed of the carrier in accordance with the altered number, a pretraveling portion preceding said deceleration curve, said pretravel portion being a linear distance of travel of the carrier, the control system including speed control means for controlling the carrier during both the pretravel portion and the deceleration curve, a travel comparator circuit, pulse-generating means for generating a series of pulses in response to distance traveled by the carrier, and a pretravel counting circuit for counting the pulses generated by said tach generating means, said travel comparator comparing a preset digital number with the pulses counted by the travel counter circuit and terminating the pretravel portion when coincidence is achieved between said preset number and the count of the counter circuit.

Claim 58

In a material-handling apparatus for delivering material from one point to another including a carrier and a motor for driving the carrier, the improvement comprising a control system for controlling the acceleration of the carrier comprising signal-generating means for generating a signal representative of a motion during at least a selected period of time, controlled conducting means transmitting said signal during a portion of said at least a selected period of time, and function generator means for generating a speed-versus-distance acceleration curve in response to said transmitted signal for controlling the speed of the motor, said function generator including storage means for storing a number representative of a speed characteristic of the motor and providing an output signal for said speed control, the speed varying in response to the magnitude of the number, and means altering said number as a function of the distance traveled by the carrier after the start of the portion of the time to vary the speed of the carrier in accordance with the altered number, a pretraveling portion preceding said deceleration curve, said pretravel portion being a linear distance of travel of the carrier, the control system including speed control means for controlling the carrier during both the pretravel portion and the deceleration curve, a travel comparator circuit, pulse-generating means for generating a series of pulses in response to distance traveled by the carrier, and a pretravel counting circuit for counting the pulses generated by said tach generating means, said travel comparator comparing a preset digital number with the pulses counted by the travel counter circuit and terminating the pretravel portion when coincidence is achieved between said preset number and the count of the counter circuit.

Claim 59

The improvement of claim 55 wherein said pretravel counting circuitry includes a count divider and a travel counter said count divider dividing the pulses from said tach generating means.

Claim 60

The improvement of claim 56 wherein said travel counter counts the output pulses from said count divider.

Claim 61

The improvement of claim 57 wherein said travel counter provides a digital binary input coded signal to said travel comparator circuit said travel comparator circuit comparing the output of said travel counter with said preset digital number.

Claim 62

The improvement of claim 58 wherein said control circuit includes a first and second pretravel digital storage circuit, said first pretravel storage circuit storing a large number relative to said second pretravel digital storage circuit.

Claim 63

The improvement of claim 59 wherein said first pretravel storage circuit stores a number which provides the said travel comparator with a digital number causing a greater pretravel distance than said second pretravel storage circuIt.

Claim 64

The improvement of claim 60 wherein coincidence in said travel comparator generates a pretravel complete output signal.

Claim 65

The improvement of claim 61 wherein said pretravel complete signal routes said tach pulses directly to said travel counter.

Claim 66

The improvement of claim 62 wherein the control system further includes a presettable digital speed reference counter and said pretravel complete signal presents the output of said speed reference counter to said travel comparator to initiate the start of the deceleration portion of the cycle.

Claim 67

The improvement of claim 7 wherein said speed-biasing circuit includes a creep speed reference circuit which is presettable with a creep speed reference signal.

Claim 68

The improvement of claim 64 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a feedback assembly, and means for comparing the output of said feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.

Claim 69

The improvement of claim 65 wherein the control system further includes an comparator and said feedback assembly provides a signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, said comparator comparing the speed signal and the signal from said feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 70

The improvement of claim 31 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a feedback assembly, and means for comparing the output of said feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver or a given speed signal.

Claim 71

The improvement of claim 67 wherein the control system further includes a comparator and said feedback assembly provides a signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, said comparator comparing the speed signal and the signal for said feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 72

The method of claim 42 wherein the carrier is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a feedback assembly, and the method further including comparing the output of said feedback assembly with said speed signal for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.

Claim 73

The method of claim 69 wherein the method further includes providing a signal representative of the speed of the hydraulic driver, and comparing the speed signal and the signal for said feedback assembly to achieve a coincidence.

Claim 74

The method of claim 53 wherein the claim is a hydraulically driven robot, the hydraulic driver including a feedback assembly including means for generating a signal as a function of the setting of said feedback assembly, the method further including the step of comparing the signal from the output of the feedback assembly with the speed signal, including said additional signal, for fixing the speed of the hydraulic driver for a given speed signal.