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EP-4283419-B1 - CONVEYOR SYSTEM, MOTOR-ROLLER CONTROLLER AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A CONVEYOR SYSTEM

EP4283419B1EP 4283419 B1EP4283419 B1EP 4283419B1EP-4283419-B1

Inventors

  • Petrov, Dimitar Ivanov
  • YANKOV, Nikola Aleksandrov
  • Suvandzhiev, Dimitar Hristov
  • Petrov, Ivan Dimitrov
  • ICHIEDA, KAZUYA
  • MALINA, GEORG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220523

Claims (16)

  1. Method for operating a motor-roller controller (2) wherein - a first value indicative of an amperage at an input power port (8) of a first motor-roller controller (2) is measured by a meter of the first motor-roller controller (2), - the first value is sent to at least one second motor-roller controller (2) via a signal bus port of the first motor-roller controller, - at least one second value indicative of an amperage at an input power port (8) of the at least one second motor-roller controller (2) is received at the signal bus port, - a nominal value for the amperage at the input power port (4) of the first motor-roller controller is determined depending on the first value and the at least one second value, and - the motor-roller control port (6) of the first motor-roller controller is operated with an output current to the motor-roller such that the amperage at the input power port (4) reaches the nominal value.
  2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that - the first value indicative of an amperage at the input power port (4) of the first motor-roller controller (2) is measured at the motor-roller control port (6) of the first motor-roller controller (2) and/or the second value indicative of an amperage at the input power port (4) of the second motor-roller controller is measured at the motor-roller control port (6) of the second motor-roller controller (2).
  3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, - information representative of a membership of the first motor-roller controller (2) to a common group, in particular a group ID of the common group, is assigned to the first motor-roller controller (2) and/or - information representative of a membership of the second motor-roller controller (2) to the common group, in particular the group ID of the common group, is assigned to the second motor-roller controller and/or - the first value is sent by the motor-roller controller (2) together with the information representative of the membership and/or - the at least one second value is received at the motor-roller controller (2) together with the information representative of the membership.
  4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that, - only those second values received together with the information representative of the membership, which corresponds to the assigned information representative of the membership, are used for determining the nominal value.
  5. Method according to one of the preceding claims 3 or 4, characterized in that, - a limit value for a sum of first and second values of all motor-roller controllers (2) being assigned to a common group is determined and/or - the motor-roller controllers (2) of a common group are configured with the limit value.
  6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that, - the nominal value is determined depending on the limit value and the at least one second value, and/or - the nominal value is determined by a processor of at least one motor-roller controller within a common group.
  7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - a current slope for changing the value of the output current to the motor-roller in the direction of the nominal value is determined depending on the first value, the second value, the sum of the first and second values and/or the limit value and/or - a current slope for changing the value of the output current to the motor-roller in the direction of the nominal value is determined by a P, PD, PI or PID controller using the difference between the first value and the nominal value.
  8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - a motor-roller controller (2) is assigned a priority out of at least two different priorities and/or - the nominal value is determined based on the assigned priority.
  9. Method according to one of the preceding claims 3 to 8, characterized in that, - motor-roller controllers (2) of a common group are powered from a common power supply and/or - at least one motor-roller controller (2) within a common group is configured not to limit its first value into the direction of a nominal value.
  10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - the nominal value for a motor-roller controller (2) is such that the current to the motor-roller is higher than a minimum required value that causes the motor-roller to revolve.
  11. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - the second values are received together with a unique identification of the corresponding motor-roller controller.
  12. Method according to one of the preceding claims 3 to 11, characterized in that, - within a motor-roller controller (2) a list with all second values received together with the information representative of the membership to the common group is stored.
  13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - the first value is sent depending on an absolute value of a change, a relative value of a change compared to a preceding sending of the first value or a derivative of the first value and/or - the first value is sent depending on a lapsed time since a preceding sending of the first value and/or - the value of a change or the derivative is compared with a threshold value.
  14. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, - a motor-roller controller (2) is configured with an individual threshold value and/or that at least two controllers (2) of a common group are configured with a common threshold value.
  15. Motor-roller controller (2) configured to operate according to a method of one of the preceding claims.
  16. Conveyor system, for instance for conveying goods, packages and the like comprising at least two motor-roller controllers according to claim 15 and a common power supply.

Description

The subject matter relates to a method for operating a motor roller controller, in particular for a conveyor system, for instance for conveying goods, packages and the like. Moreover, the subject matter relates to conveyor systems with motor-driven conveyors driven by motor-rollers. The subject matter further relates to a motor-roller controller within such a conveyor system. Motor-driven conveyor-rollers, a.k.a. motor-rollers, comprise a roller body rotatably mounted about a roller axis. The roller body usually is a hollow tube. Within the roller body, the motor is arranged. The motor is an electric motor which is configured to generate a rotational movement about the roller axis between the axis and the roller body. For the sake of understanding, in the following the term motor-roller can be used for the motor within the roller body alone, a drive unit comprising the motor and a corresponding control circuit for the motor within the roller body or the roller body comprising the motor or the drive unit. In the following the term motor can be used for the motor as such as well as the drive unit comprising the motor as such and a corresponding control circuit for the motor. It is well known that motor-rollers are operated by a control unit, also known as controller, being arranged external, outside the roller body. The controller exchanges control signals with the motor inside the roller body. Motor-driven conveyors driven by motor-rollers of this type are used in conveyor systems. In such conveyor systems, a single motor-rollers is used to operate several roller bodies within a conveyor zone. Conveyor systems oftentimes have several conveyor zones through which an object to be conveyed passes one after the other. As has been said, within each conveyor zone, at least one motor-driven conveyor-roller operates several rollers. A controller has a wired power inlet (input power port) for receiving electric power, preferably DC power. However, the input power port may also be an AC port, in this case, on the controller there may be arranged a rectifier for converting the input AC power to DC power. Moreover, the controller has a wired motor-roller control port. The wired motor-roller control port is configured to provide the motor-roller with drive power. The motor can be fed through the motor-roller control port using for instance a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to control at least the rotational speed of the motor. In addition, status information and control signals can be exchanged between the motor-roller and the controller using the motor-roller control port. Status information and/or control signals can, inter alia, include actual motor speed, set motor speed, actual conveyor speed, set conveyor speed, actual rotational direction, set rotational direction, actual operation mode, set operation mode, temperature, error messages, gear ratio of the motor gear, serial number, article number, production date and or the like. In particular, the motor-roller control port is a four wired motor-roller control port in line with EP 3 100 340 B1. A conventional controller comprises a wired I/O (Input/Output)-port. This I/O-port is configured to exchange control information with a central control center for instance a central PLC (SPS)-control. The I/O-port can, for instance, be configured using a proprietary protocol. However, the I/O-port can also be configured using standardized I/O-protocols, for instance according to CAN, DeviceNet, Ethernet Powerlink, INTERBUS, Fieldbus, LIN, M-Bus, PROFIBUS, VARAN and the like. In addition to such a conventional controller, a wireless controller is know, which operates similar to the wired controller. The explanation for the wired and the wireless controllers can be used for both, with the exception that the I/O Bus or the wireless controller is a wireless bus, with appropriate wireless protocols. The controller is configured to exchange motor-roller control signals with a motor-roller at the motor-roller control port, to exchange motor-roller status signals with the motor-roller at the motor-roller control port and to exchange motor-roller control signals for the motor-roller with a central control at the I/O-port. Exchange of the relevant control and status signals are well known and need no further description. It should be noted that all of the ports an inlets of the wired controller are preferably wired ports, requiring wiring between the motor-roller and the controller and be the controller and centralized control center. Wiring usually is necessary to provide stable communication in industrial environments. A wireless controller has also a wiring with the motor-roller and the power inlet, however, a wireless I/O port. EP3614555A1 discloses an operating method for an electrical drive machine, including dynamically determining and evaluating respective proportion factor for drives, and determining resulting current setpoints by modifying preliminary current setpoints. L